College Days(Rework)
by Ghostwulf0313
Summary: Rachel Gardner has graduated high school and is now living on her own in a city, trying to lead as normal of a life as she can, while attending college I was not happy with my original version of this story. So I have decided to scrap what I had, and I started over. After sharing the idea with my friend, Mimtea (her writing is REALLY good!) we decided to make it a collaboration fic
1. Chapter 1

_***__**September**__***_

_Useless!_

The tone was sharp and clear, as it shot through the pitch black like a flash of lightning. That word left a bitter taste as she reminisced on how frequently it came up.

_It's your fault we're even like this!_

Why? Why did things have to be like this? The words got clearer, silhouettes formed from the shadows in her mind.

_My fault?! It's yours! Yours and hers! You both are the reason this house is a hell!_

… Why? She can feel her own fingers digging into her palms as she clutched them into fists at her sides. The doorway of her kitchen just ahead of her, the musky scent blending with alcohol and old cigarettes, lingering like a thick cloud around her.

_It's her fault I'm so damn miserable!_

But, why…? It felt warm, congested for some reason. It felt hard to move.

_It's your damn fault I am stuck in this hell you useless girl!_

She didn't want this, either… Her heart was beginning to pound inside her chest as the scenery began to form more vividly, the sound of those two voices seeped through the wooden door just a few feet away from her, screaming back and forth between one another.

_We're like this because you exist!_

She didn't want to be stuck here, either, she really didn't.

_You're a waste of life, just like she is._

She felt the world shaking around her, the ground started to tremble as the noise of an engine grew louder. She was fixated on the door in front of her, swallowing down a lump in her throat as she slowly raised her hand to the doorknob.

_You both should just drop dead!_

Her hand grasped the cold metal as the sound of random voices began to fade into existence.

_You hear me?! A bitch like you, and a monsterous bitch like her only deserve to fucking __**die!**_

It was then she felt a sudden jolt, her world came to an unforeseen stop. Immediately, Rachel's hands extended out to catch herself on the back of the seat in front of her, staring at it in a confused haze. She wasn't in her living room, that became clear as she slowly raised her head, and focused back in on the sound of a couple arguing in the back of the crowded bus, causing enough of a scene to force the driver to abruptly bring the vehicle to a halt.

Everything slowly began to comeback to her as she listened to the driver jump into the situation, joining in the screaming to try and get the pair off. Her lips tighten into a thin line across her face, dull blue hues focused outside the window, trying to ignore the chaos going on a few feet away from her. She scanned over the unfamiliar scenery before focusing in on her own reflection, she recalled the events to lead her where she was. She took a bus into the city, intending to get far away from the place she once called home-if it could ever be called that. Her past was not a pleasant one; often making her question her very existence.

After _that night_, there was no choice but to get as far away from all of that as she could. Rachel had always been resourceful. When everything happened, she gathered the stash of money she knew her mother kept in a safe, along with any other assets of value she could find. From afternoon to early morning of the following day, she made all the necessary plans and arrangements to collect her things, and leave with a single duffle bag.

She wouldn't have to involve herself with everyone's criticism, or have them concerning themselves about her whenever she walked by. Her old home would be roughly six hours away, there would be no one here to give their unwanted pity or help. She knew they were aware. The neighbors, the teachers, even the people she didn't recognize who always tossed her nervous glances. They knew the situation in that household, yet did nothing. Whether it was because her father was a cop, or because they agreed with her parents, she couldn't be sure.

She understood the abuse was not _normal_, however it became normal for her. It had been pounded into her subconscious that it was her own doing. She had no one to blame but herself for her bland existence. A pitiful excuse of a human being, beyond broken, yet playing the part of another member of society. It was like she was some puppet, but she didn't know what else to do except this.

She was empty, often seen as emotionless. It was rare for anything to breach the walls she kept firm around her heart. People would whisper things about her whenever they thought she was out of earshot. Usually a comment about how dead she looked, how creepy she was, how she was like a ghost. The whispers only escalated over the summer after _that_ day.

Rachel didn't care about the whispers, the remarks, or the opinions. With most she agreed, and the others were more annoying than anything else. She didn't need or want pity and fake attempts to be nice to her. She only wanted to try and continue playing her part until a more solid idea came to mind. She would stick with her routine, to read her books, or pass time sewing. To finish her schooling as she intended, rather than doing it as something she wanted. She could keep the same pace she had at home, with the only new addition being her urge for baking. Being able to use precise measurements for something that seemed so simple intrigued her. For now that would do. Even if she didn't really have any friends or family; it was enough. All she had to do now was try to move ahead until her pointless existence made sense.

Reality began to settle in again as she noticed the bus approaching her stop, she adjusted the duffle bag neatly placed on her lap. As soon as the bus came to a halt again, announcing her destination, she joined the group of passengers who began to make their way off the bus and onto the sidewalk. The wind whipped through the long blonde locks upon exiting, which she readjusted as some strands that had got in her face, freeing a hand to tuck them behind her ear. Blue hues browsed the busy sidewalk as she took in her surroundings. She had mapped out the path to the apartment complex when she visited the other day to sign her lease. It was a short distance through some nearby alleyways. Rachel withdrew a piece of paper with the directions to The Little Corner Cafe.

She already took care of getting a cheap rental and signing a lease. Now she needed to sign the paperwork to confirm her employment. She had been lucky to have them give her a job so quickly, and the manager sounded like a reasonable enough man from what she gathered on her phone interview. It wasn't too far from the college, or her apartment building either, fortunately.

It wasn't a long trip from the bus stop to the cafe, the scent of freshly brewed coffee filled her nose as she pushed open the glass doors. The inside was bigger than it had appeared from the front. A few square black tables stood unused in the center of the floor, while the ones along the walls next to the doorway had a few occupied seats. Rachel blinked to try and adjust her eyesight in the softly lit cafe, letting her gaze run along the decor, taking in the various types of strange artwork along the walls by every table. As her eyes roamed back to the back of the building, she noticed the display case of treats, all of which seeming delicately prepared. A few employees were busy behind the counter there as well, one handling one of the two registers, while the other stayed busy cleaning one of the few coffee machines.

Rachel made her way to the counter where a relatively pretty young girl stood. She had gentle brown eyes and curly brunette hair tucked neatly into a bun, the girl also seemed focused on what she was doing at the register. Rachel stood patiently waiting for the other woman to notice her arrival before finally speaking up, her voice just a hair or two high enough for the cashire to hear.

"Excuse me."

The girl shifted her gaze from the register's drawer, after she finished up counting the last few dollars before shutting it. Her head darted up upon hearing the woman now in front of her, a smile quickly spread across her face, right on cue as she noticed the blonde.

"So sorry about that ma'am! Welcome, my name Christine, how may I serve you today?"

Ray had to admire how fast the woman managed to go from her task to customer service.

"I am here to see Ryan."

This seem to cause the woman across from her to perk up, Christine's expression made it evident she knew exactly what Ray was there for.

"Oh! You must be Rachel!" She chirped, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"That's right." She responded cooly, keeping her usual expression.

"It's great to meet you! I will be your training supervisor."

Christine extended a hand, which Rachel politely shook. She then quickly explained that Ryan was in his office upstairs, motioning for Rachel to follow her there.

Once she got to the office, it felt like the time flew by. It didn't take long for her to get the paperwork signed, as well as go over her school schedule so that she would be set to start working the following day. The manager was as she suspected, a very reasonable man and had her working Wednesday through Sunday, with Monday and Tuesday off. He didn't give her any trouble at all about her availability, which brought some ease to her mind.

As their meeting drew to an end, Ray exhaled a deep breath, relieved to have that over with. From there it was just a simple matter of getting her things moved, and getting herself acquainted with her new surroundings.

Finally it was the night before school started, and after a week everything was set up in what was now her new home. Ray kept her near lifeless cerulean eyes closed; sighing as she laid across the cream colored sofa in the living room. Long pale colored locks draped over the armrest in a flowing curtain.

It was another long day, work was taking its toll on her. It would be more accurate to say the whole week had taken its toll. Rachel had been forced to switch to mostly night shifts, not being able to keep up with the busy pace earlier during the day. She was smart, but rather sluggish when it came to certain actions. Some customers seem to dislike her unfriendly expression, while her coworkers were not happy about her slow pace during the rushes. The only luck she seemed to have left was that her boss was willing to try to move her to a different shift rather than simply fire her.

It seemed like every other customer had something wrong with their food. They took it out on her, and the cooks in the back did nothing to try and fess up to their own errors. It didn't help that the other coworkers took their sides, too. She assumed it was easier for them to make a fool out of her instead of being honest. There wouldn't be anything she could do about it, she knew exactly how cold people could be. As for her face, while she was grateful to her manager, she really didn't know what to do about it. Her boss kept saying she needed to smile more but she just wasn't good at that.

To top it off her neighbor seemed to be having another fit in the apartment next to hers, she could hear them smashing who knows what. Every night since she had moved in seemed to be the same with them. Every now and then she could even hear laughter through the walls. Whatever it was they did, they seemed to be enjoy themselves.

She had never seen them, but they seemed to be a real jerk; recalling earlier that week when he had yelled at her through the wall for the noise she had made. She had dropped a box filled with cookware, it hadn't been intentional, throwing what she assumed was a man into a fit. Though his noisy actions were clearly on purpose. Ever since that one misstep it was as if he was trying to be as loud as possible. From breaking things to slamming doors shut.

Fortunately, her bedroom was the furthest room away from the wall that provided a slim barrier of protection from the obnoxious racket going on next door. She could still sometimes hear them, and discovered quickly that it only seemed to be the one person that lived there just by the noise. On that note, it seemed they were the only two people on the entire third floor? Even the second floor had seemed empty when she happened to wander through it one curious evening. It was strange to think the owner would allow such an annoying tenant if they were the reason for so many vacancies, not that she minded. It meant there wasn't anyone else around to complain or deal with… It still bothered her, though. Why did the landlord make it seem as if this was the only available apartment?

She sighed.

_How annoying. What in the world are they doing over there? Is he really that bitter over one incident?_

Tired and irritable Rachel lazily removed herself from the love seat; showered and made her way to her queen size bed. She wanted to be well rested for the following day- or at least try to be. She slipped in under the covers and snuggled into her blanket, nestling her face down into the pillow she snatched into a loose hug.

She hoped for a good night's sleep. Recently she tended to not get much shut eye due to the nightmares that plagued her had lessened over the past few weeks at least, going from every night, to every couple nights. _Nightmares_ wasn't even the correct word for it, it was always the same thing, after all.

_It was always the same…_

_Never changing…_

_Thud...Thud….Thud…_

_What was that sound? _

_Ray crept down the stairs after being hidden away in her room with her headphones as she took her usual position on her bed; nose buried in a mystery novel. She was trying to keep herself out of the way. Things could get loud at her house, to the point it was hard to concentrate through the screaming and breaking of glass and china without something to wash out the worst of the pandemonium._

_Even with her music blocking out most sounds she was sure she had heard a scream unlike any other. Screaming, yelling, it was not uncommon in this household. But this one was different… Something was definitely wrong…_

_Thud...Thud...Thud…_

_A potent scent permeated her nose, a gentle splish emitting from her shoe upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, causing her to freeze._

_Rachel's eyes widened. There was blood on the floor …? It trailed all the way to the kitchen. _

_Her heart pounded in her ears, in sync with the unknown noise coming from the kitchen. _

_Thud...Thud...Thud..._

_Get out now! Leave! You don't want to see what's in there!_

_She ignored the voices screaming in her head; her fight or flight instincts taking over. The kitchen door was slightly cracked._

_Thud...Thud..Thud...Squish._

_Everything blurred and transitioned to a blood red haze clouding her mind._

Her eyes shot open then, heavy breaths accompanied by a rapidly beating heart. The air from the fan felt cooler than usual, and she could feel she was drenched in sweat.

_Again..._

The young woman rubbed her weary eyes, her pale hand reaching over to the white nightstand beside her bed, to bring the glow of a cell phone to her face.

5:43AM.

At least she'd survived most of the night this time, truthfully she hadn't slept well since the incident. She doubted any amount of therapy would be able to help her. It was too late for her, it had been for a long time. If she was broken before all of this happened, she was without a doubt broken beyond repair now. Nothing would be able to change that. She accepted this to be how it was. Her life would remain empty, and her existence unnecessary. Suicide had crossed her mind more than a few times, but she couldn't even do that. Her parents had hammered into her head that it was a sin in god's eyes. She would never be forgiven if she took her own life.

_It was bad enough she couldn't be forgiven in this life, she didn't want to also be hated in the next…_

_**8:15AM**_

Rachel arrived 15 minutes early to her first class of the day, having taken the time to map out the place the week beforehand had really come in handy. She navigated around the campus from the entrance to her English class with ease.

Despite her lack of self care the young woman had always been highly intelligent, excelling at most school subjects. Given her high GPA, she could have gone to a more expensive school for sure, she just didn't see the need. There was no place for her to go back to during holidays or when school was out; so she might as well live more practically, and get in a place where she can live for an extended period of time. One of the reasons she chose this city was the fairly low cost of living because of high crime areas. It wasn't all too safe with that being said, but that didn't bother a person who didn't care much whether they lived or died.

"RACHEL! I didn't know you had applied here too!"

Rachel's eyes grew then, her fingers folding into a fist on her lap as _that_ voice registered in her mind. She didn't think it was possible, she was done with everyone from her old hometown, so _why? Why was he here?!_

Her expression quickly settled down, masking any signs of shock that had previously sown, along with her slight annoyance. When she spotted the source of _that _voice, a boy slightly older than her with green eyes and red hair; a young man who always seemed so cheery, very much the opposite of herself.

"Hello, Eddie." Her response was met with a beaming smile.

Eddie excitedly motioned for her to sit with him and that blonde girl she recognized from high school. She never could remember her name, but she always seem to hang around him. Eddie was always friendly, even when she didn't want him to be. It never made sense to her why he had always been so eager to talk to her when most people just thought she was dull. They weren't wrong, in comparison with everyone else at her old school, she wasn't much to want around. Not wanting to cause a scene Rachel complied reluctantly, nodding a polite _thank you_.

It wasn't his fault she was annoyed to be honest, Ray didn't hate him, he was one of the few people who was always kind to her. It was the idea that she had escaped all the memories of that place, all the places, all the people. She had been looking forward to not having to deal with people anymore, to just let herself dissolve in the meaningless day by day routines. She was grateful he at least he never brought it up, though she could still see that pity behind his stare.

After a few minutes of pointless conversation, Ray excused herself to move back to her desk, pulling out a book to absentmindedly flip through. She hoped it would deter anyone else from attempting a conversation with her. She was relieved that he had kept most of his attention on the other girl, though to her annoyance she could feel him stealing glances in her direction far more often than she liked. He would always stare at her when she was walking down the hall, and she had heard others gossip that he perhaps he had a crush on her. Either way, it didn't matter to Rachel. She would never feel that way towards him, or anyone. The thought of having feelings for someone was a very foreign idea for her.

She had read many romance novels and even enjoyed quite a few of the stories within them. She was just certain that such things would never be meant for her, afterall how could she feel love if she hardly felt anything for anyone? She didn't know love aside from what she had seen in the movies, or read in her books. Love was not and never would be something she could understand...

It had been another terrible day at work for Rachel, the day being unusually busy for a Wednesday evening. The hour was late, and her coworkers had left her quite a mess to deal with. The floors were filthy from coffee spills and customers trash, the dishes were practically overflowing from the three compartment sink in the back, and none of the boxes that had been delivered were put away. She would be lucky to make it out on time, or even in a reasonable amount of time after.

The woman sighed irritably at the situation, scanning the dining area for any remaining customers before she could lock the door and begin her tasks at getting the cafe back in order. She noticed a single patron dressed in a dark hoodie and jeans seated at a corner table, Ray's eyes turned towards the clock a moment after. She hadn't even noticed the man come in, but something about him made her think that he might be a difficult customer. She would need him to leave if she wanted to at least attempt to get out in a timely manner.

Rachel took a deep breath, before she made her way towards him. His hood was pulled up, concealing most of his appearance, sitting with his head low and his elbows on the table. The first noticeable feature she could see was the layers of bandages wrapped around his hands and wrists. She wondered if he might be injured, but something told her that was not the case.

"Can I get something for you, Sir?" After a moment of awkward silence, she proceeded to inform him that they were about to be closing up, hoping he would catch on to the subtle nudge.

Rachel felt her heartbeat stumble when she noticed the single eye glance at her from underneath the shadows of his hood, the rest of his features remained hidden.

"Tch."

Without a word the man stood up, her eyes widened ever so slightly, caught off guard by how tall the stranger actually was. He didn't even give her a second glance before shoving his hands into his pockets and heading out the door, her eyes trailed along with him. Something about the man strange, something she couldn't put her finger on. The small amount of details she could see, the way he moved, and before he left, she could have sworn she heard him mutter "_What a boring look" _under his breath.

_Boring?_

The young woman frowned; but she didn't have time to think on it. Even if he had said something like that, it wasn't a lie.

Ray, turned the key, locking up the cafe to complete her shift. She released a sigh of exhaustion, and began her slow walk to her apartment. It was dark, with the only source of light coming from the soft yellow glow of street lamps. The quickest way home was to take a shortcut through the back alleys. She had been warned they could be dangerous, but she had cut through many times over the past week without single incident. Minus getting catcalled from intoxicated strangers by what she assumed was a strip club. It was an agitating occurrence. Fortunately, they usually left her alone if she simply kept her pace and didn't respond. Usually….Until tonight.

"Hey there little miss." The man's speech was slurred, alcohol wafting off his breath with each word.

Rachel stuck with her usual plan for this situation. She ignored him, expecting he would take the hint and back off; She kept placing one foot in front of the other, moving along at her usual pace. A chill crawled up her spine as she notices the sound of footsteps closing in behind her, taking only a second to turn her irises towards the corners of her eyes. It quickly became apparent that this man had no intention of backing off or leaving her alone.

"Where ya goin'? It's gettin' late, a perdy lil thing like you shouldn't be alone.." He was almost side by side with her, but she didn't dare to look at him.

"HEY! Quit ignoring me you bitch!"

His grubby hand roughly grabbed her shoulder to force her to meet his grisly face. The harsh wrinkles which littered his skin indicated this pervert was probably old enough to be her grandfather. Instinctively the petite blonde slapped his hand away and used his surprise as an opportunity to dash off into the alleyway towards her apartment.

Her legs burned as she ran as fast as she could to get away. Unfortunately, Ray didn't get far before her foot caught on a crack in the concrete, causing the woman wince in pain before catching herself on her elbows, nearly planting her face in the ground. Without a thought, she tried to get up when a jolt of pain froze her in place. Her eyes darted down towards her foot, almost glaring at it as she realized the fall twisted her ankle. It would be difficult to run without pain shooting up her leg each time her foot kissed the concrete. Rachel could only hope she had gained enough distance, and that he would give up. She quickly forced herself back up, and limped away as quickly as she could.

Unfortunately, She didn't get as much of a gap between her and the man as she hoped. The man still had enough in him despite being drunk to catch up and corner her against a nearby dumpster, leering in delight at his little win.

"Leave me alone."

Her cold stare was met with a heavy slap across the cheek, the momentum was enough to force Rachel to her bottom on the cold concrete. She could feel a sting from where he had hit her and reflexively brought he hand up to the spot.

"Shut up ya little bitch… I'll put you in yer place." A disgusting smirk painted his face, and dull grey eyes stared her body down with ill intent, letting her know exactly what he meant by that statement.

Rachel did not fear death, but she disliked the idea of being defiled or beaten. Her heart was racing in her chest as his foul breath closed in on her. She protectively hugged her arms around her chest. She tried desperately to devise a plan of escape, but as her assaulter drew closer, her options became nonexistent. Rachel clenched her eyes shut, waiting for her fate to befall her. Instead something warm splashed onto her body followed by the song of a maniacal laugh.

Cautiously Ray opened her eyes, still holding her arms against her chest. Her would have been rapist stared straight at her, with an expression of shock and horror frozen on his face. However, what was most notable was not the odd face he was making at her, but the large blade which protruded through his chest. The warm liquid which had covered her.. It was blood…

Her eyes widened in surprise when her gaze shifted to the man wielding what she now realized was a scythe. She recognized him instantly, there was no doubt it was that man from the cafe who had said her expression was boring. Ray watched as in one swift motion and his hooded figure slung the corpse against an adjacent wall with ease, a stream of blood escaping the body with the action. Rachel couldn't help but flinch at the sound of cracking bones as the corpse hit the wall, lying lifelessly on the ground. She knew should have been terrified, yet she seemed to feel a bit of relief. While the chances of him killing her next was high, she could accept it. She would rather her life come to and end than be used as some living sex toy.

"Looks like I found ya in quite the predicament there!" He spoke in a crazed voice.

It was too dark to make out any features, especially with his hood. Though he did appear to be covered in bandages, just as she had observed his hands were before. The man flicked his weapon clean before returning his attention back to the small woman on the ground before him.

Rachel remained silent even when he leaned forward with a devilish grin that made her tense in place. Her cerulean orbs met the one she could make out in the darkness. A unique, pretty amber color hidden behind a reddish gleam. Her focus was snapped back to reality however as he held up three fingers inches from her nose.

"Now I'll give ya to the count of three...if ya wanna live then ya better start runnin! Oh! And I want you to cry and scream with every step!"

Rachel knew she couldn't run, her foot was injured. Even if it wasn't what was the point? It wasn't like she could get far, she wouldn't cry or scream, either. Her heart was still pounding and yet she was froze in place, with only a single destructive thought bringing her comfort.

_Would it really be so bad to die? Being murdered isn't a sin. If I died...Then all this senseless pain would be erased...Everything would be erased… I would be erased…_

Having made her resolve, the blonde adjusted her arms to clasp her hands in front of her chest as if to pray, her head bowed to the man in front of her before closing her eyes once more. She was willing accept this man's blade taking her life, however it never seem to come. Those three seconds he gave her were long expired, but the blow never came.

"Th' fuck are ya doin'?" The man asked, his voice hissed with irritation.

Ray's eyes fluttered open, looking up to see him staring at her in confusion. He hadn't killed her? But, why?

"What am I doing?" She asked cocking her head to the side, a bit confused herself now.

"Why aren't ya runnin? And th' hell is that boring ass face? You look like some dead looking doll."

"My foot is injured so I can't run away. Even if I did you would catch me…" She paused pondering his last statement. "Also...I cant look like a dead doll. Dolls were never alive to begin with."

"Tch! Ya think I don't know that?!" He got close to her face again. His irritation replaced by eagerness as if he got a thought that pleased him.

"C'mon! Ya can at least make a better face for me! I saw it when that creep was about to have his way with ya! Cry! Scream! Beg for your life!"

The small blonde blinked at the man. Her eyes dead as ever. He wasn't pleased.

"Th' fuck?! Tch! Your face is so damn boring!"

"I'm sorry…I don't know what I can do about that."

A frustrated growl bled from the killers throat. What was wrong with this chick? It wasn't much, but she had at least looked a bit more scared only moments ago.

"Yer face was perfect for worm food over there! Ya sayin' you were afraid of him but not me?"

"Are you going to rape me?" She asked with an almost curious tone. She wouldn't be comfortable if this man had similar intentions to the drunk. From the look of shock and utter disgust she could tell that he did not.

"WHAT THE HELL?! Don't lump me in the same category as that sicko! I ain't that low!"

"Then no." She stated matter of factly as if it should've been obvious.

The man stood back up tugging his hood down his face clearly disturbed by the young woman beneath his towering form.

"Ugh! You're so boring! Listen, I'm not into slicing up emotionless dolls." grumbling irritably at the situation the killer decided to move on and find a prey that would provide more amusement. Her subtly surprised tone calling out to him stopping him momentarily.

"You are not going to kill me, then?" Rachel stared at the back of his head with the same dull, blank look as before.

"I told ya! I don't kill dolls! I'm a respectable adult!" He didn't even turn to look at her, before resuming his stride into the darkness.

Ray blinked a few times in confusion by the whole thing. If not for the evidence on her clothes, she would have debated having hit her head during the fall. In a way she felt relief, but also disappointed.

She knew any normal person would have immediately called the police after a murder. The thought vaguely crossed her mind as the murderer walked away without a care. She knew she should, yet she felt a small bit of gratitude for him killing the man who tried to attack her. Even if he had intended to kill her after, he still had indirectly saved her nonetheless. Besides, dying by his hand was something she couldn't say she would have minded, so she supposed not calling the cops would be one way of thanking him.

It would just be more of a hassle anyway.

She took a moment to gather herself. The small blonde carefully stood up, trying to keep as much weight as possible off her rolled ankle. It wasn't broken or sprained, but was going to need some ice. She began her slow walk home at last, steadily making her way home at last.

Zack rinsed the crimson liquid from his body. His last two kills had been messy. Very messy. He couldn't help it. That brat had grated his nerves, and as a result he had taken his frustration out on a middle aged couple who looked way too damn happy.

He grinned just a little at the memory of the way they begged and screamed. The male victim trying desperately to protect his lover, the look of despair on her face when he had failed.

It was almost enough to cull his frustration. Almost. He couldn't seem to get those dull blue eyes out of his head. He had recognized her as the same woman with that boring look from the cafe. Though her face sure as hell wasn't boring when that creep was about to get his way with her.

_What was her problem? Did the brat wanna die? Tch…_

Something hadn't been right with that one. A normal person would have to be all kinds of fucked up to be alright with being killed by a monster. Stepping out of the shower Isaac sighed at his disfigured body reflecting back at him. The physical proof of what he was.

It had been a dumb move to keep her alive; he should've just killed her. She had seen what he looked like, she probably would give those bastard police more information on him. He couldn't get over that expression...Just the thought of killing her with such a dull expression made him sick.

Zack grumbled irritably, as he reached into a drawer for some gauze. Whether she was a problem or not, he had absolutely no desire to kill that girl, a notion he was unfamiliar with in his life.

After the first week of school, Ray had fallen into a routine of leaving early so that she could drop by her job for a coffee before heading to class. That Monday started out the same as normal as she closed the glass door behind her, a new flavor of latte in hand to familiarize herself with.

A chill ran up her spine when a cool breeze swept across her skin. Rachel zipped up her light jacket up to help guard her upper torso from the wind. Her legs would have to suffer, as she had only a pair of jean shorts and sneakers on her lower half. She found it futile to dress for cooler weather when it was only cool in the mornings, and at night. During the day it remained a relatively pleasant temperature, though it was a matter of time before the colder weather rolled in, forcing the leaves would begin to change their colors before falling from their perch.

It wasn't long before she spotted the large school building and entered onto the campus grounds. She was fortunate the school was just a few blocks from her job, it made going and coming between the two easier on her wallet, along with her personal time. She continued her steady pace towards class, something in the distance caught her attention, bringing her legs to a slow halt.

Just ahead of her, walking from the opposite direction was a recognizable hooded figure. From the distance she could make out the bandages which hid his skin, and the familiar features immediately brought the color of red back to her mind. There was no question it was him, the murderer from the alleyway. Why? Why was he here on school campus? She noticed he was also carrying a backpack, did he go to this school? Why would a killer want to go to college? She blinked in his general direction, Rachel's mind quickly filling with questions concerning murderers and their lifestyles.

In the meantime, Zack continued his stride around the grounds for the third time now, glancing between the paper clutched in his hand, and the direction he was heading. Even with this map that had been so neatly drawn out, he still found it difficult to navigate this campus. He let out a long grunt, shoving the paper back into the pocket of his hoodie as he tried to look around the unfamiliar territory.

Instantly his eyes caught someone staring in his direction. Zack felt a jolt rush through him, as he noticed a familiar pair of dull blue eyes set on the rather clueless looking expression. _It was her_, there was no doubt about it. _Damnit! What was she doing here?!_ This wasn't good, she was looking directly at him. Had she been watching him? Was she following him? This was going to be a problem, one that he needed to address soon.

Rachel blinked, seemingly frozen in place as their eyes connected. The man was getting closer and closer, clearly coming straight for her. Yet all she could think to do was stay where she was. He definitely didn't seem happy to see her there, so maybe he was planning to kill her after all…?

Zack quickly closed the distance, while Rachel just stood there with that vacant expression. Her eyes widening a little when he grabbed her wrist, tugging her with him. She didn't put up a fight or resist him as he led her away from the public eye. After a quick scan of the area he spotted a secluded corner, tugging her in that direction. Once he was positive they were out of sight, he positioned her back against the wall, she didn't flinch, not even when he slammed his palm against the brick next to her head. Isaac made sure she was trapped between him and the side of the building with no way of escape. He was trying to gauge a reaction, but she was just as emotionless as that night in the alley.

"You following me?!" He snarls, his face inches from hers. She doesn't react, pissing him off further.

"That would be impossible."

Zack glared down at her expressionless face, searching for even a trace of fear. She was calm as ever, it would seem that she hadn't lied about not being afraid of him after all. He wasn't sure how to take that, or what to do with this girl.

"Shut up! Why are you even here?"

"I go to school here." She responded simply.

_SHIT!_

A look of shock spread across his face at her response, a pit growing at the bottom of his stomach. This was bad, he couldn't let her live, yet he had no urge to kill her. He'd feel like shit if he killed her with that dull expression of hers. To let her live was dangerous, she knew too many details about him.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Her soft voice snapped him from his thoughts. As he processed her question through his mind, Isaac backed away with grimace, clutching at his stomach. Such a disturbing thing was almost enough to cause him to lose his last meal.

"Don't say gross shit like that!" The man gagged in disgust, whether it was because of the question, or the fact that he realized there was no way he could kill her with that dull look, he wasn't sure.

Rachel tilted her head in confusion, he thought was she said was gross? It seemed strange coming from someone who enjoyed readily killing people by slashing them open and splattering blood everywhere. After Zack recomposed himself, he brought himself close to her once more, a sinister look in his eyes. Any other person would have been terrified by such an expression, but of course Ray lacked a reaction.

"Tch! Listen here ya deadface girl. If ya tell anyone 'bout me…" He started in a menacing tone, grabbing the front of her shirt to yank her close enough for their noses to nearly touch. "...Then I'll kill ya!"

"... I understand. I won't tell anyone." While she didn't make any reactions, she tried to keep her tone sincere as she promised.

Zack straightened himself back up, releasing her. The man seemed a little more relaxed, though the scowl never left his face. With better lighting she was able to make out more of his features than she had been able to the other night. He didn't have the same crazed expression, though still undoubtedly looked dangerous. What stood out most to her was his unique eyes, one being the pretty amber she remembered, while the other was significantly darker and the pupil looked to be a different size, it was almost kind of cute. She couldn't make out much except what was exposed of his skin around his eyes and mouth was a few shades darker than hers. The black hair that poked out from beneath his hood looked like it would be soft to the touch. Getting a good look at him, despite being a killer he was rather attractive, something she didn't usually notice or pay attention to, but something about him seem to stand out.

"Glad ya got it through your head."

The man ruffled his dark locks in irritation before he withdrew the map from his pocket once more. Shit didn't make sense to him at all… This was a genuine pain in the ass. His eyes flicked up from the paper as he noticed the blonde still staring at him, her expression unreadable.

"_What?"_

"Do you need help?" She asked casually, as if he hadn't just threatened her life.

_Th'fuck is wrong with this chick?_

He sighed heavily, he really didn't want this girls help. However, he wasn't so smart when it came to this kind of thing. _Fuckin' nuisance…_ He mentally cursed the old man, as he had done so many times since being forced into this ridiculous situation.

"If you let me see, I can show you were to go…"

Zack's irritation was peaking, but he really didn't have much of a choice. The man grumbled under his breath.

"Gah! Fine!"

He reluctantly shoved the paper into her outstretched hand. Ray wasted no time looking over the simplistic map, blinking; surprise written all over her face. Zack lowered himself down to her level, peeking between her and the paper.

"There something weird on there?"

Ray handed the sheet back to him, unsure how to explain her new discovery.

"No." She responded softly.

"Well then? What's the problem?" Zack stood up straight, keeping his eyes on her.

Rachel gave herself a brief moment of preparation, looking back up at the man after. "We have the same class."

"... Hah?!" Well this was flipping frick-tastic! Great, just fucking great. He mentally cursed his shitty ass luck.

Rachel was just as surprised as he was. This would be an interesting semester. Very interesting...

"Yep…."

"Well shit!" The man tugged his hood over his face, muttering various expletives under his breath.

The walk to class was silent and awkward. Ray glanced at the man from the corner of her eye, her curiosity only growing. Did she bother him that much? His irritation seemed to increase as they made their way through a crowd of students laughing and smiling, she noticed that strange red flicker in his eye. It was still strange to her that he would be attending school, especially since he seemed to dislike people so much. The pair took a flight of stairs before making a left turn towards the classroom.

"Here we are." Ray's gentle voice broke the silence that had grown thick between them, the man followed her lead through the open doorway.

They were half an hour early, none of the other students were in the classroom, and the professor had not yet arrived either.

"Tch..."

The man didn't waste so much as a second before shoving past her towards the back of the classroom. It was then that she noticed him fidgeting with an object buried within his sweater. Curious, Ray moved in closer, catching sight of a black handle inside of his hoodie pouch.

_Did he bring a knife? _

"What th'hell do ya think yer doing?" Zack growled through gritted teeth, when the blonde proceeded to seat herself in the only chair next to him. He had elected to sit at a corner desk to avoid being surrounded.

"You can't bring weapons to school."

The man turned his intense gaze onto the small woman following her eyes to his pocket. He snapped his eyes away to glare daggers across the room after realizing she had noticed what he carried.

"Shut up."

His day seemed to be getting shitier with every passing minute. He had already felt on edge from the short walk from his apartment to the school. The man avoided heavily crowded places whenever he could. Anytime he had to go into town for anything he made sure to only go when the streets and stores were nearly vacant. Then to have this bitch show up at the same school and class… What a joke. Though not as much as the silent confession he made to himself of having absolutely no desire to kill her.

Ray furrowed her brow slightly, then turned her attention elsewhere. She hadn't reported his attack on her, and even now she had no desire to out the man. Not that she condoned violence, she didn't find _murder_ to be something easily forgiven, and she knew he had probably killed some innocent people. Yet she found didn't hate or fear him despite knowing it. She supposed it was because whether intentional or not he had saved her. Plus, she had only just met the man, so even if he seemed a bit rude she didn't really know much about him, or why he acted the way he did.

_Vsssst Vssst._

Snapping from her thoughts, Ray withdrew her cell phone from her pocket. Zack eyed the device curiously. He knew about cell phones and various digital devices of course, he just had never owned one. He just barely learned to read last year. He still had a bit of trouble with it to be honest; so he wouldn't of been able to make much use of the device.

"Do you have one?" she inquired not bothering to look up.

_Her boss texted her to ask her to pull a double shift on Saturday? Seem one of her co worker would be on a sudden vacation._

"Nah. Too complicated."

She was about to ask what he meant by that, but she felt eyes on her. She was sure she knew exactly whose eyes were watching, too. Sure enough Eddie had shown up with the girl whose name she found out was Siri last week from the teacher role calling.

The red haired boy didn't even smile at her this time, his green eyes shifted to Zack, before Siri grabbed his arm to drag him off to sit elsewhere. Rachel felt an instant amount of relief to not have to deal with socializing with him as well today, though she could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't happy.

Soon more students, along with the teacher made their way into the classroom. She peered at the man seated next to her, his eye looked as if it might have been twitching slightly. He had a wild gaze fixated on the posters on the wall, or up at the ceiling; though he remained quiet the tension radiated off him like a thundercloud.

It wasn't until the teacher started to role call that she realized she still wasn't even on a first name basis with this man.

"Isaac Foster." Ray noticed the man next to her cringe.

"Zack..just Zack." The man responded irritably, he never liked his full name.

The professor nodded then resumed calling the rest of the class. Isaac...Or Zack, was it? He glanced at her, seemingly irritated, unaware of the fact Zack realized she also now had both his real name and nickname now. Ray quietly raised her hand when her name was the next to be called, ignoring his stare for the moment.

As the professor began the lecture, Ray couldn't help but to peek past her curtain of hair at him again. He was very fidgety and chewing the inside of his cheek. His knee was shaking the whole desk from what she presumed was a level of anxiety. Zack seemed to be focusing more on restraining himself from stabbing someone than what was going on within the class. Maybe he was just really bored? She hoped it was just the latter, as she went to reach into her bag for a notebook and writing utensil, along with the rest of the class when the teacher began the assignment.

Zack glanced around as everyone else seemed to be prepared, whereas he didn't. _Shit..._He didn't even have paper or a pen. All he had packed was the required book that the old man had purchased for him and some snacks incase he got hungry. The man blinked in surprise there, noticing this chick next to him, whatever her name was, as she nudged a couple of pieces of paper and a pencil in front of him. Zack grunted in response, unsure how to react to her helping him out.

The hour dragged on, feeling more awkward as he noticed the rest of this class seem to know answer after answer to the teachers questions where he didn't know a single one. It irritated him, being in this position of not knowing. The girl next to him seemed particularly bright and attentive while he was close to dozing off.

_God, I'm bored…_

Yawning the man stretched his arms schooched back and casually propped his feet up on the desk resting his hands behind his nape.

"Mr. Foster, this isn't your living room. Please remove your feet from the desk."

The woman glared at Zack's lack of manners. The man was close to snapping back at her, till recalled the old man's lecture from the other day about following instructions. He rolled his eyes and complied with the teachers request. What an annoyance. The man was not fond of being told what he could and could not do. _Fuck this shit… _Truth was he wouldn't be here if his living situation wasn't threatened. Fuck that old man for making him do this.

"Tch, stupid…" The man muttered so low only the blonde could hear.

Soon as the class ended, the man bolted up only to be stopped by a small tug on his sleeve, it was that annoying woman he couldn't seem to be rid of.

"Hey…"

Rachel couldn't help but notice that Zack really seem to struggle in class, he was unable to focus, as well as not really understand basic etiquette. It was his first day from what she gathered and already he was getting into trouble.

"Whaddya want now?"

His tone was slightly less irritable than it had been before. This gave the woman a bit more confidence to proceed.

"It's...I noticed you seemed to get in trouble a lot...I could offer some ad-"

"TCH!" Zack cut her off. "Shut up! I don't need some quiet doll who can hardly make a proper face tellin' me what to do."

Before she could utter another word, he was gone.

Zack's long nap hadn't done much to improve his mood. The man stretched himself up from the couch, grumbling his way towards his bedroom to change into a different pair of clothes for his nightly routine. What bothered him most, as he slipped on his dark brown hoodie and crimson trousers, was the fact that he couldn't seem to get _her _out of his head. His thoughts were constantly invaded by those eyes.

She looked dull as hell. He had noticed idiots eyeing her left and right as they walked to class, but her face was so boring… Yet he couldn't get it out of his head. He couldn't help but realize while he should have been furious at this girl and their situation, she was pretty intelligent, and seemed pretty eager to help him out despite only knowing him for a little while and threatening her life twice. It was possible that she could turn out to be useful when it came to this school thing. Long as she kept her word and didn't open her mouth...

_No he couldn't trust her_. It was bugging the hell out of him. She was a _problem._ He _had _to get rid of her, but how when he couldn't get himself worked up enough to want to kill her.

"DAMN IT!"

Isaac uttered a growl, as he punched the wall in frustration. He took a deep breath, then cut back through the living room to step out onto his balcony. Zack ruffled his hair, trying to figure out what to do about her. He knew where she worked, and now he knew she shared the same class with him. This gave him ample opportunity. Perhaps he could try to catch her off guard? Evoke some kind of emotion to rile him up enough to kill her?

He is suddenly broken from his train of thought when he hears his neighbor out on their balcony. It was a nice night, with a calm breeze and a big bright moon hanging above a sky decorated in stars, and shades of black and blue. It made sense for them to come just as much as he had.

At first Zack wasn't interested, but a quiet realization then crept into his mind, the idea that he can get his floor back with one simple disposal of the noisy tenant. He ducks his head down, trying to hide his face while he glances over, preparing for a little joy kill only to be met with a pair of listless blue eyes…

He is immediately caught off guard, even she seemed to show some surprise to see him standing there.

"Y-you?! Are you actually stalking me?!" His tone was accusatory, unsure what to make of _any_ of this bullshit.

"...Yep it's me." Her face settled back into her usual blank expression, though it was obvious she was a little bit annoyed by his question. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, you did intend to kill me for a split second."

"_Shut up_, and I can see that idiot!" the man ruffled his black hair irritably. "Why th'hell are you there?"

"Why are you?"

Isaac slammed a palm over his face, ignoring her question. He can hear her**. **Her asking him if he has a headache, as he's slowly putting the pieces together. She was at his usual cafe. She was at the same school, and his only class. She lived next door to him. Yet despite all these prime opportunities. He _still _had absolutely no desire to kill this girl...

"It is a pretty moon out, though."

"...Fuck me…"


	2. Chapter 2

_Damn that old man. _

The killer cursed under his breath, still annoyed by the turn out from yesterday. He was unable to understand why his life was suddenly taking on such a ridiculously, stupid complication. He didn't need an education, or some bitch with a dull face living next to him, let alone the same class, or his usual hang outs.

Gray knew bits and pieces of his past, as well as his passion. School was no place for a murderer, and yet the man seemed determined to reveal redeeming qualities in him. Isaac saw no need for this, or school. It was nice to finally be able to read most shit, it was satisfying to be able to write his own name, but beyond that he saw no use in it. He knew how to take care of himself; he had been doing so for a long while now.

Zack stopped at the back door of a large church, muttering expletives to himself before kicking it open. He never knocked, there was never a reason to when only himself and the reverend knew it was always unlocked. The back entrance led to a small living area lined with bookshelves, a kitchen and a few bedrooms were further down a hall at the opposite side of the room. One of those rooms belonging to the old man who had taken him in all those years ago, and the other was his from when he was just a kid.

With an Irritable grunt, Zack plopped himself down onto one of the couches. Gray had asked him to come by after his first day of class in order to discuss some things. He had intended to ignore the old man's request, but after learning about who his new neighbor was, he definitely had a few bones of his own to pick with the priest. The sound of a door from down the hall which led into the main part of the church echoed briefly through the room. Soon after the priest strode into the room.

Garbed as usual in that ridiculous outfit - a suit with a purple velvety overcoat, with a bible in his hand.

"Morning, Isaac."

Zack grumbled at the use of his first name, offering no more than a slight wave of his hand to return the greeting. He cocked his head to the side, flashing Gray one of his classic snarls, indicating for the man to hurry up and spit out whatever it was he had wanted to discuss. He wanted to get this over with and slash some fuckers, blow off some of this stress.

"You seem displeased. I take it the first day did not go well?" Gray sat cross legged in one of the armchairs diagonal from the sofa, his interlaced hands resting on his lap.

"Th'fuck you think? I don't see the point in this shit." Zack shot the man a furious glare. How did he think it would go? He knew he was against the whole idea to begin with. Gray only smiled while Isaac shifted his gaze to the white textured ceiling "Tch! Don't look so happy 'bout it!"

"It will be good for you to learn to be around others without giving into your impulses. An education will also do you some good." The old man stated simply.

Zack still didn't get it, like hell it would do someone like him any good. However, there was no point asking too many questions; whatever the old man's intentions were, he probably would never understand.

Zack let out an exasperated sigh, recalling the other issue that had been straining his mind.

"... I Thought you were gonna keep my floor and the one below empty?"

Zack continued to stare upwards, mentally tracing the patterns above him. Gray owned the building in which he resided. If that girl had been placed in the apartment next to him, it would've been the old man's doing.

"Ah, I see you met the young woman who moved in next door." Gray responded casually, as if there was no problem with the girl living next to the serial killer.

"No shit! I nearly killed her in the alleyway." Isaac scowled, looking back into the old man's pale eyes.

"Nearly killed her?" The older man questioned.

It was very unlike Zack to leave a victim alive. Most who came across this infamous murderer would never survive to tell the tale. It was quite unusual to hear that someone had managed to escape his clutches.

"Yeah, some drunk was tryna have his way with her. She should've been real scared then." The memory still perplexed him, how weird she was. "When I tried to kill her, gave her the 3 second deal and everything, she just sat there with these deadass eyes. Didn't feel like killin' her with that face."

Her response when he asked her why she wasn't scared was confusing. Would she have been more scared or upset if he abused or raped her? The thought made his stomach churn, but she wasn't afraid to simply die. It was weird, she was fucking weird. Monotoned and expressionless, and now she was living next door to him...

"I see. That is very interesting." Zack scowled at the intrigued expression on Gray's face, "So you interacted with the young woman and you could not end her life?"

_This was very interesting indeed._

"Would ya quit it with the creepy face!" Isaac growled irritably, running a hand through his black hair. "I don't get it. It's like she's fuckin' everywhere all th'sudden. Shit, the bitch even works at that cafe I found a while back…"

"Oh?" Gray couldn't seem to suppress his smile, and did nothing to conceal his amusement in front of Zack. In the eleven years he had cared for this young man, it was the first time he spoke of another individual. Particularly one that had been an intended victim.

"Gah! I told ya to quit with that damn expression!" Gray's face did not trigger Zack's killer instinct, it did not remind him of someone happy, but instead it made him think the older man was always aware of something he was not. As if he were two thoughts ahead of him, a fact that irritated him to no end.

Zack lifted himself from the couch with a huff, tossing the other man a half hearted wave before moving for the exit, growling as Gray called after him.

"Make sure to be polite to your new neighbor, Isaac."

_It was that sound again, the sound of something rhythmically being pushed into some sort of squishy matter. It made her stomach churn, the metallic scent invading her nostrils as she stood before the door between herself and the kitchen._

_Thud… Thud… Thud…_

_She didn't want it anymore, she wanted it to be over, so why did it seem to grow worse each time? Why was she at this door again? Why was her body moving without her permission?_

_Thud… Thud… Thud…_

_Why must she constantly open that door?_

_Thud… Thud… Thud…_

_Stop, she just wanted it to stop…_

_Thud… Thud..… ..Thud…_

_Stop it…_

_Thud…. ...Thud..._

_Stop…_

…_...Thud….._

…_.Stop!_

Just as her hands moved within that dream to begin opening that door, Ray's eyes snapped themselves open, staring blankly up at her bedroom ceiling. Slowly her mind released from the faint images in her memories, placing her back into her bed. She lifted her hands to lay across her face, collecting herself before sitting up, pushing off the edge of the bed to cross the distance between her mattress and the bathroom. Exhaustion tugged at her eyelids as she groggily flipped the lightswitch beside the door frame, moving towards the sink once the ceiling fixture brighten the room. Her lips tightened into a thin line as she noticed the dark circles which hung at the bottom of her vacant eyes, making her look far creepier than normal.

_The nightmares were getting worse, and more frequent. _

Upon that thought, the young woman stripped down; a hand reaching up to turn the water on within her small shower. She stepped in soon as the temperature was to her liking, letting the water pound against her aching head, down along the long pale locks. She moved her hair out of the way to allow the water access to her back and shoulders before turning under the stream, feeling the warmth begin to coat her chest. This was starting to become a routine, waking up in the middle of the night from the same sequence of images that haunted her mind, getting herself cleaned up far earlier than she needed to, filling the remainder of time any way that she could. It was making it difficult to concentrate on the simple errands she did later in the day.

Whether they would ever stop was beyond her knowledge, all she could do was try to clear her mind and realign her thoughts with functions. Make lists for things she wanted to try, or places in town she would decide to visit for the sake of seeing them. Recently, however, something new had begun to become a regular thought on her mind

_The serial killer, her classmate, and her neighbor. He had crossed her mind a lot recently…_

He continued to occupy her thoughts throughout her shower, switching the water off after a moment. Rachel reached for a towel to dry herself off before slipping into a pair of black leggings and a dark blue t-shirt that hung a few inches past her hips. She then made her way into the small kitchen to preheat the oven; experimenting with baking had become a new outlet for her, something she could focus on in order to calm her nerves and pull her thoughts from wandering to darker corners of her mind. She knew there was no going back to bed right now.

She moved to a clear container on her countertop, popping open the lid to snag the measuring cup from the inside. She lightly sprinkled a spot on the counter in flour before leaving a small amount of it on the side. She snagged the raw cookie dough that had been resting in the fridge, unwrapping the saran wrap from it to plop onto the powdered spot. She pulled a cookie sheet out, prepping it before dusting her hands with a bit of excess flour, portioning the dough into small balls to line the sheet.

The sound of her neighbors front door being open and closed could be heard through the opposite wall of her apartment. One glance at the clock confirmed what she already knew. It was 3AM, an hour too early for most people to still be awake. He was always out so late, always back around the same time each night. She supposed it made sense given his activities. Rachel was silently thankful he had seemed to stop slamming the door at least, though he was still far from quiet. She moved through the living room to collect the schoolwork she had spread across the coffee table, then made her way out onto the balcony. Even though the nights were noticeably colder, it felt pleasantly numb against her skin.

The young woman situated herself at the small bistro style table on the patio before getting started on her homework. There wasn't much left, it would not be due until next week, however, she preferred to stay ahead. After a few minutes of working through some of the assignments, the sound of the balcony door one apartment over being flung open echoed through the quiet night air; and the sound of his boots could be heard on the creaky old wood.

"Tch...ya're out here this late again huh?"

Zack, leaned his back against the wooden post at the corner of his balcony with his arms crossed, his wild eyes set on her. Though it was obvious the man was still irritated to see her there; he didn't seem quite as tense as he had been before.

She was surprised when he addressed her, forcing her gaze up from her papers and towards those unique set of eyes. While he had seemed to be less aggressive with her recently, he never tried to speak with her like this. Rachel folded her hands over her lap, straightening herself within her seated position to view the man on the opposite balcony more clearly.

"Same for you."

She knew what reasons he had for being awake, but it didn't stop her from reflecting his question back at him. She stared curiously at the man, tilting her head to the side to cause the long pale locks to fall into a rhythmic sway. Even though his face had captured her thoughts, he was still something of a mystery to her. Regardless of the small things she did to assist him in class, the two of them never spoke. Not about their awkward situation, about that night, or what exactly should happen after it.

"Did you just get back home?"

She caught the sound of annoyance he made after her question, watching him casually turn his sights away. Rachel assumed that was his cue for their conversation to end, lowering her eyes back down to her paperwork. He had no reason to answer her, she was sure he didn't want to try and make small talk with someone like her, he must have been irritated that she was taking up some of his private time. At least, that was what she thought before she heard him speak up again.

"What about you?"

Ray's cerulean eyes slid right back up, noticing the man's expression seeming to relax. She thought over his question, shifting her eyes towards the night sky a few seconds after. She didn't want to try and explain why she had come out here so early in the morning, or why it had become a consistent thing for her. If it had been anyone else, she probably would have just tried to ignore it, but…

"I've been having trouble sleeping."

The man merely grunted in response; she glanced back to him soon as she felt his gaze move back onto her. That intense golden eye stood out in the dark, almost like the stars that dotted the sky. She couldn't help but think while it was intimidating, it was also rather pretty.

Zack was about to question the odd girl further, 'till an aroma filled his senses, causing his mouth to water. The scent was sweet and familiar. It was the same warm, enticing smell he would catch by the bakeries while strolling by, or occasionally visit. He took another deep inhale of the delicious scent, realizing that the source seemed to be coming from her apartment.

"Damn… Somethin' smells really good." He said, unconsciously voicing his thoughts.

The man turned his attention back to the blonde; his eyes widening for a moment when he caught the faintest smile that had slipped across her lips towards his statement. What surprised him even more was that it didn't seem to piss him off. A fact he assumed was because her eyes still looked as dead as some abandoned doll on the side of the road.

"I'm making chocolate chip cookies." She stated, her expression reverted back so fast he wasn't sure he really had seen that smile in the first place. "I've been baking when I can't sleep."

This small piece of information had the killer intrigued, especially with his extreme lack of culinary prowess for an unfortunately special reason that was kept hidden beneath the layers of bandages. It also explained why he would catch a whiff of something delicious whenever he came out to chill on his balcony the past few nights.

"Ya know how t' do that?" He asked, genuinely seeming to be impressed; to say he had a bit of a sweet tooth would be a vast understatement, and the ability to make such delicacies was quite an achievement in his eyes.

Rachel's features did nothing to show the surprise she felt as she watched Zack's face shift from its usual scowl to what appeared to be a level of excitement. It was the first time she saw that kind of expression on him. It was short lived, but it caused a small swell of pride knowing that she had managed to impress him; even though it was not anything particularly special to gloat over.

She had to wonder if he knew how to cook, how he got his groceries, how he survived, for that matter. How did someone like him have an apartment? Why was he in school? She felt drawn to him for some unknown reason, even if he was a mass murderer, someone she should stay away from; the young woman could not help her curiosity towards his existence. He was like staring down the edge of a cliff and into the sea, dark and mysterious with only small glimmers of what lurked beneath the choppy waves.

"Would you like some?"

The question slipped out unconsciously as she tried to piece together how it was that Zack lived next door to her, unsure of what drove her to even ask such a thing. Perhaps there was a part of her that wanted to, a piece in the back of her mind that wanted answers to the building piles of questions. Before she could follow up on her offer, her eyes widened in surprise; as seconds later the man was suddenly a couple of feet from her on her balcony. He moved so fast, she had no time to even react that Zack had leaped across the short distance from his patio to hers with ease.

"Hell yeah!" Isaac tossed her a sly smirk, taking two steps forward towards her, into the soft light of the balcony lamp.

The petite woman blinked a few times, her mind still processing what exactly had just happened. Slowly blue hues settled on his face before drifting down to the rest of him. She didn't react or feel anything negative when she saw the blood soaked onto the front of his clothing. She didn't need to ask whether it was his or not, the answer being obvious.

"You could have used the front door..." She commented, though admittedly impressed by his athletic maneuver.

"Shut up." He grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. He watched as she collected her things, making her way towards the balcony doorway with him close behind.

It was then a thought occurred to her, causing the woman to pause halfway through her doorway. She turned her head to face him, tossing the taller man a curious look.

"If you could… Give me a minute to grab some towels for the blood..."

It would be quite a task to get the red out of her light colored furniture, not to mention having the DNA of some random victims all over her apartment… Was something she did not want to have to deal with if it could be avoided.

"Shit…" He almost entirely forgot that he had been about to wash up before seeing her there. The blood of his previous victim was still fresh on his sweatshirt. "Gimme a few…"

Ray nodded, watching with interest as he once again launched himself over the railing, landing effortlessly onto his feet like a cat. Zack started towards his door pausing for a moment to lean his head back to look at her.

"By th' way… What's yer name?" He asked.

The blonde stared at him, a slight look of annoyance collecting over her face realizing that he had already forgotten her name. She pushed it aside quickly with a small sigh, focusing her eyes to his.

"Rachel...Gardner…"

"Thought so…" Zack shifted his gaze back towards the door in front of him, offering a simple nod. "Be right back, Ray."

Her eyes continued to stare at the spot he had previously been standing in before disappearing into his apartment, seeming unable to move.

"_Be right back, Ray."_

His words seem to echo through her mind, causing a small smile to slip its way onto her lips, lowering her gaze down upon herself. She had never been given a nickname like that, she had always just been the same old Rachel, never changing. Being called Ray felt strange, it felt special, as if single handedly he managed to alter that simple, boring girl that always stared at her from her bathroom mirror.

It was strange how quickly his demeanor seemed to shift, and she had to wonder if it was all really for some simple homemade cookies. He was usually short tempered and moody, however his consideracy toward her favor was surprising. It was not a trait she would put together with a murderer. The slight smile crept further up her lips as she proceeded back inside; closing the glass door behind her.

She was just in time to remove the cookies, turning the blaring timer off soon as she returned to the kitchen. Rachel grabbed a pair of mittens to pull the tray from the heat, then placed it down on the top of her stove. Using a spatula, she moved each cookie onto a cooling rack she had left set up before shutting the oven off, allowing the delicate sweets to rest.

After several minutes had come and gone, she began to wonder if perhaps he had changed his mind, only for her anticipation to be rekindled hearing a sharp knock on her front door. The sound drew her attention, quickly moving to open it without hesitation. It wasn't as if she ever expected anyone else to find her here, or even be awake to beyond him.

Sure enough, outside the door gazing down at her was Zack, standing there in a fresh gray hoodie and a pair of dark blue jeans. It always seemed to surprise her how drawn her eyes were to the taller man, especially his eyes.

"I thought you changed your mind…" She stepped to the side to allow him access inside, being greeted with the fresh scent of his body wash the moment he slipped past her. The petite woman's gaze moved up to catch a glimpse of the hair that peeked out from under his hoodie, noticing the droplets seeming to cling to the strands. It was clear why he had taken so long to come over. He didn't just change out of the bloody clothes, he had made sure to shower. She quietly admitted to herself that she liked the scent of him just then, the thought causing her heart to speed up.

"Hey." The man tossed her a small smirk from over his shoulder, causing Ray to blink at him in surprise. That was the second time tonight she had seen him smile. The killer stretched his arms over his head before adding to his greeting. "Figured I might as well shower."

"I see." She responded casually, his answer confirming what she had already assumed.

Rachel then motioned the man into the living room, leaving him the remote to the television; while she proceeded to use a spatula to move the cookies over onto a plate. Unable to resist, she glanced over at Zack who was flipping absentmindedly through the channels, occasionally he would stop momentarily before turning his nose up at whatever movie or show was currently playing. After plating the treat, Ray pulled two glasses from the cupboard; collecting the milk from the fridge, leaving it aside for the time.

"Do you want some milk?" She asked as she made her way into the living room to set the plate of cookies onto the glass coffee table.

Presuming the grunt she received in response to mean yes, she then retreated back to the kitchen to fill them each a tall glass; before returning and seating herself on the opposite end of the couch from him. The man nodded in what she supposed was a thanks, as she placed one of the glasses in front of him.

Several minutes went by with both sitting quietly as they ate, the only noise in the room being the television. He had elected some cheesy horror flick, occasionally the man would scoff at the poor special effects. She could only surmise it must have seemed pretty lame to someone who killed people for fun.

"So why haven't ya been able t' sleep? Ya look like shit."

The question took her off guard, not expecting him to care about her poor sleeping habits. The answer of course was because of the worsening nightmares she had been having over the past week. It must have been fairly obvious given the blue that stained the skin under her dull eyes just how little sleep she had been getting.

"No reason really..." She replied, an automated response she had grown accustomed to saying over the years when she wanted to avoid a particular topic.

Zack's intense gaze shifted over in her direction, seeming to consider her statement. It felt as if those eyes were burning into her the longer he kept them in her direction, it became difficult to even look into them. It felt as if she met his gaze in this moment, he would be able to unconcover things she didn't wish the world to know. Even when she noticed from the corner of her gaze how his expression shifted to a familiar glare, she couldn't look him in the eye.

"Ya don't want t' say then just say so, but…" His tone grew dangerous, as if warning her. "...If there's one thing I fuckin' hate, its a liar…"

Rachel finally shifted her eyes in his direction, though only for a brief moment. Her expression remaining just as dead as ever as she nodded at his statement. Inwardly she was curious about his declaration. Anyone else would have just shrugged it off, even if they knew it wasn't the truth. She shifted a bit in her seat, washing down a bite of cookie with her milk before responding.

"... I won't lie next time."

"Glad ya get it." Zack muttered, finally refocusing on his own treat in front of him instead of her. The pair remained fairly quiet except for small comments whenever something seemed to pop up from the television or the other, breaking the awkward silences here and there until he left, having finished most of the cookies she baked.

After Zack had gone back to his apartment, Ray struggled in an attempt to squeeze in at least a few more minutes of much needed sleep. It felt as if she had just barely closed her eyes, when the buzz of her alarm clock went off, indicating it was time to start getting ready for class.

With a sigh, the young woman reluctantly sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Despite how tired she was, Ray found herself looking forward to going to class. Not for the class itself, but the chance to see him again after spending those few hours with him not too long ago. Not that she expected much to change between them, but their interactions made her even more curious about the mysterious man next door. She found herself drawn to him, though she couldn't place the reason. There was no logical reason for it, he threatened her life, he had been loud and obnoxious when she moved in, and yet the small glimpses of humanity she saw in him left her wondering what was really beneath that hard exterior.

After sliding out of bed and preparing herself for the day, doing the best she could to flatten out her long golden strands which had become a mess during her short period of sleep. She made herself a cup of coffee which she sipped on while eating the small breakfast she had prepared. Her thoughts wandering towards the mysterious man next door, eyeing some of the extra eggs and bacon she made. Rachel knew he had been up as late as she had, she knew he also had class today. He didn't strike her as the type to put any kind of importance on eating before leaving for class, either.

Rachel quickly finished her meal with a heavy sigh, unsure why she seemed so fascinated with the killer. Regardless of the reason, she made up another plate before grabbing her bag, heading out the front door and locking it behind her.

A small pale hand raised up to lightly knock on the entrance of the apartment next to hers a minute after, however, the door swung open before she could even get in a single hit. Her dull hues were suddenly staring directly at his chest. She blinked as she took a moment to process, before finally tucking her hand against her own chest. Her eyes trailed upward, to see his wild orbs looking at her in surprise.

"Th' hell are ya doin' out here?" Zack asked.

He hadn't slept at all the remainder of that night with how distracted his mind had been. Due to this he was leaving early enough to get himself something to eat with the money he had acquired a few nights ago from some drunk wandering the alleyways. The last thing he expected when getting ready to march out was her standing outside his door. His gaze flicked downward to see the plate of food she held in her other hand, watching curiously as the petite woman in front of him lifted it up towards him.

"I thought maybe you hadn't eaten, and I made extra, so…" She trailed off, leaving the rest for him to fill in as she craned her neck to look at him with that usual deadpan stare.

The hooded man's odd colored stare widened slightly caught off guard by the gesture. If not for the bandages that covered his face, she might have been able to see the slight color that had spread over his skin. The feeling of embarrassment forced his eyes away from her, lifting a bandaged hand to scratch at his cheek.

"Yer...fuckin' weird…"

His focus then moved back to the plate in her hands, he was hungry and it smelled pretty good. As such, Zack elected to take the plate from her and began to shovel the food into his mouth. He ate quickly, with little idle chatter as they both stood outside the doors to their apartments, making their way to the university for class after he finished.

Zack didn't say much as the pair began to make their way to class, his primary focus at the moment was keeping his triggers in check. The sidewalk was a bit more crowded than usual this morning. He pressed forward gritting his teeth as he endured the usual odd stares and irritating expressions that had him clenching his fist around the handle of the small knife he kept hidden within the pouch of his hoodie. His eyes darted all over the place in an attempt to distract himself, to keep himself relaxed.

It wasn't until he felt a slight tug on the sleeve of his sweatshirt that he broke out of his trance to glance down at the petite blonde woman walking so casually beside him. He had noticed something he found strange quickly after they began walking. Even though he had made no real attempt to walk near her, or stay in her company, he seemed to end up right beside her. If that wasn't odd enough, whenever his eyes lingered on her, or when she spoke to catch his attention, it felt as if a bit of the stress put on him from the weight of his own bloodlust was removed from him This was something that he found to be strange, afterall he had never been like this with anyone before - not counting Gray. Yet with her, she just seemed to have this strangely calming effect on him that he had never felt until now.

"Zack? Are you okay?"

Ray, looked up at the man with her usual blank expression, the same one that masked the slight amount of concern she was feeling. She noticed since that day in class together how he didn't seem to do well with a lot of people around. She noticed how fidgety he became, like he was fighting to hold himself back. Then there was that strange flicker in his eyes, much like the one he had that night he wanted to kill her.

"Just mind yer own business…" He snapped, pulling his sleeve from her grasp. Zack refocused back on the cement sidewalk that stretched out before them, feeling relieved as the university came into view.

Ray let out a soft sigh, it seemed he was back to his usual grumpy self. Yet she couldn't help but to feel a level of concern for him. It was clear that this was difficult, she couldn't understand why he was putting himself through it. Even stranger to place was her own desire she had to help him with this. She had no reason for wanting to do so, she had always stuck to herself in the background, so what was it about him...?

Her dull blue orbs glanced up at him once more, examining the annoyed expression on his face. She said no more on the matter as they closed the distance between themselves and the front doors of the school. Ray followed closely behind him as he made his way through the grounds and into their shared class, following him to the same corner spot as last time.

"Tch…"

The man glared out of the corner of his eye as she elected to seat herself next to him once again. It was almost as if this morning hadn't occurred, as if he rewinded backwards. Maybe he was just irritated from the walk here, the sidewalk had been unusually busy this morning. Maybe it was just _her, _how strange she was hanging around him so much, how much it threw him off.

As usual the young woman showed no reaction towards the serial killer's grumpy mood. He really was strange, like an entirely different person compared to the time they spent alone together. Rachel quietly reached into her bag to pull out her notebook and pen, her usual routine to set herself up before the class started. It wasn't until the sound of a chair being dragged and forcibly placed in between her and Zack's chairs did her attention snap from her schoolwork and towards the intruder, her expression growing solemn once she realized who it was.

_Eddie. _

The redhead focused on her with that usual grin plastered to his face as he made himself at home between her and Zack. Rachel's eyes darted from Eddie to Zack, noting the rather annoyed expression on the man's face as he seemed to stare off to the side.

"Rachel! You look so cute today!" He quickly exclaimed, shifting his seat a bit closer to hers. "You're all tuckered out, not to say you don't still look pretty, but.."

He flashed the girl a small smile, leaning forward to examine the bags beneath her eyes. "You didn't really sleep well, huh?"

The expression on Ray's face did not shift, feeling a growing uneasy with him there. She kept her posture tense as Eddie pushed closer, keeping her eyes fixed on the whiteboard in the front of the classroom. She couldn't tell if it was her exhaustion, or her quiet annoyance, but she felt a bit disappointed that she was stuck sitting beside the freckled young man once again.

"I didn't sleep well I suppose." She kept her answer simple and short, letting her eyes wander through the classroom.

Eddie's smile grew a little weaker at her answer, a look of concern crossing his face.

"You ought to be more careful, Rachel. You'll ruin that lovely face of yours." He chuckled, raising a hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Especially with everything that's happen-"

"I don't want to talk about that." She quickly shot back, turning her head to toss him one of her normal blank expressions, though something in her eyes screamed how serious she was. She didn't need anymore reminders than her own mind was giving her, and she didn't need her past verbally announced. Especially with Zack sitting right there, she didn't want _him _to know anything about that. She just...Didn't need any of it to be brought up, not a single piece.

Eddie frowned at the upset look on her face. It didn't take the young man long to recover, moving his hand to his chest.

"Did I make you angry, Rachel?" He stated softly, tilting his head. "Let me make it up to you, let's have lunch together today. I found a really nice place we can go to off campus. They make such pretty treats, Maybe we could...Split one…?"

Meanwhile Zack found himself listening intently on the conversation occuring right next to him. His wild eyes flicked over towards Ray for a split second, catching how obvious i was that she was annoyed. She didn't want anything to do with this little punk, that was the first time he had even heard her speak with a tone of irritation. He didn't understand why something about the situation was grinding his gears. Then this little shit invited her to go off alone with him?

_Why is this pissin' me off? It doesn't matter_

He had felt tempted to intervene as soon as he heard the change in her voice, but he simply sat there instead. It wasn't any of his business, afterall why should he care? It wasn't any of his concern about what happened to her, or what she did in her free time. Even so, he couldn't refrain himself from continuing to listen in on their conversation, to know how she would respond to the little pricks proposal.

Ray simply shook her head and averted her gaze, down to her hands resting on the surface of the desk. The idea of spending more time with Eddie than she needed wasn't appealing. She knew she should have felt more guilty about it, she knew he never seemed to give up on trying to keep her company, or to invite her out yet something...Always felt off about it, as if he wasn't really asking her. He would smile and act so cheery, yet she always felt like there was more hidden behind that grin then he led on.

"I have work this week." She answered simply, wondering if Zack had been paying any attention at all to their conversation. Mostly she hoped that he hadn't...

"Rachel...You told me that last week." His tone went soft, as emerald spheres gazed into her. "Please, won't you at least give it a try? I could make you so happy, all you would have to do is say yes, so why…?"

"I have work this week too…"

The young woman's lips tightened into a thin line, picking her eyes up from her hands and glancing over towards the man on the other side of the annoyance in front of her. Though he looked irritated, that wasn't anything out of the ordinary; it seemed he wasn't paying attention at all.

Her gaze then trailed back towards the rather adamant redhead sitting besides her. From the irritated look on his face it was obvious he had noticed her glances towards, Zack. Eddie moved in closer, reaching out to take her small hands in his; even gripped them tighter when she tried to pull away.

"Then how about we skip class? We could spend the whole day together, just you and me...so _please, _Rachel, just say yes."

Zack felt like such a creep eavesdropping in on their conversation. It had absolutely nothing to do with himself. A conversation he should take no interest in nor care about. Yet he _was _interested, particularly when he listened to her pitiful attempt to turn the kid down. Ray was clearly disinterested in whatever this idiot had to say and yet he just seemed to keep on blabbering. Then for a reason he couldn't fathom he felt an unexplained burst of anger, as the kid grasped hold of her hands and tried to disarm her excuses.

_Why do I care? Why is this pissin' me off?_

Before he had any idea what he was doing, he found himself facing the pair next to him with a menacing expression on his face. His impulsivity finally driving him to act despite his every effort to just ignore the situation going on a foot away from him.

"Ray already shot ya down ya little shit, fuck off!" He growled, and a faint red glint swirled over his amber irises.

Immediately the smaller man, shot his attention over towards Zack; glaring daggers at the rather rude monstrosity. A mischievous smirk crept on his lips as he seemed to realize who this was, his blood quietly boiling.

"If it isn't that weirdo who just recently decided to show up for class." He remarked, frowning in displeasure. "If _anyone _should be getting lost, it's some _freak _like you! Your dirty hands don't belong anywhere near someone as pure and lovely as Rachel!"

Rachel's hands twitched hearing the younger man talk, his words making her stomach churn. She had always disliked how he described her, hated how wrong he was, how fake it all sounded. However, it went beyond his description. Hearing him address Zack that way othered her. Why? Why was he a freak? What about him was so strange? Even knowing he was a serial killer, it wasn't as if he was just attacking everyone everywhere. He had even stepped up just now for someone like her, so why was he being called a freak?

"Eddie, stop."

"Don't be nervous Rachel, I won't let some disgusting, dumb, ugly monster tou-"

Zack bared his teeth, feeling absolutely disgusted by the way this idiot described Ray. He didn't give too much of a shit about what was said about him, afterall he had heard those same terms directed at him nearly his entire life. That is until he used _that _one particular word that always felt like a slap in the face every time he heard it.

"I said _stop, _Eddie." Rachel snapped softly, irritation evident by her ton, her eyes narrowed onto a spot on her desk" Stop, or I won't talk to you ever again."

He sat there fuming for a moment, as he listened to the small woman on the other side of him finally trying to speak up against this little prick. Though her voice was still weak, it seemed she would just allow herself to be pushed around so easily. This was a notion that irritated the fuck out of him.

"But Rachel…"Eddie immediately backed down seeming to be defeated, at least for the time being.

Mismatched eyes which had been growing a little hazy then snapped back towards the smaller man, his hands began to twitch with anticipation. It took nearly all of his resolve to just tell the prick off one more time instead of physically lashing out and ending his pitiful existence. It would only take a brief second then he would never have to listen to that irritating voice ever again. Of course then he would also be in jail if he were to attack someone out in the open like this.

"You heard her...now get outta here ya little shit."

The red haired male scoffed, opening his mouth to throw back a retort only to be stopped short by Rachel's cold eyes. That was all it took for him to back down. Eddie threw Zack another dirty look before grabbing his bag and moving to another seat on the opposite end of the room.

Rachel had known what kind of effect her words would have on the younger man. However, she typically never spoke up to him or anyone else, she never cared about herself enough regardless of how much she disliked something. With Zack, it was strange. Something inside of her felt ready to snap hearing him insulted in such a meaningless way. She knew the killer could snap at any moment, that he could probably throw everything away in a split second, but he hadn't. It was obvious as her eyes wandered towards his hands how _much _he was holding back.

The man's hands were twitching, almost trembling...Yet he was holding back. How was someone like that...Supposed to be a monster?

Ignoring Eddie's hurt expression from the other end of the room she reached out her hand to take Zack's under the desk to offer him a gentle squeeze. This seemed to immediately snag the killer's attention, as his surprised eyes shot in her direction. Though it didn't seem to take long for his initial surprise to subside and for irritation to take its place. She didn't understand why he suddenly seemed so angry at her.

"Idiot…" Zack tossed her a menacing glare, then snatched his hand away from her, shoving both into the pouch of his hoodie.

Ray blinked in confusion as she stared down at her now empty hand, one of which she quietly retreated back to the top of her desk. Unable to refrain herself from stealing a glance at him when he let out an annoyed sigh. His gaze was fixated directly ahead, and he seemed extra fidgety. She had intended to thank him for standing up for her when she couldn't do it herself.

A frown tugged at her lips as she examined him with concern; his anxiety seemed worse this time around than it had in the past, this fact made her feel more concerned than she would have expected, unsure of how to help the man beside her. She knew she had upset him somehow, even if she didn't understand exactly what she had done to make him angry. She knew she might have been making things worse for him, but the fact that he had stepped in earlier for her still flashed through her mind.

_She didn't want to see his life go down the drain because of some trigger…_

All she could do was watch carefully from her desk, noticing how his eyes seemed to dart everywhere besides her, a fact that reminded her of something me had mentioned to her the first time they met.

"...If you can't or won't stop, then try to kill me.." The comment slipped out easily as she fixed her gaze onto him.

He mentioned how dull she was numerous times when he _had _tried to kill her. It seemed she didn't satisfy whatever itch he had. Even if he _did_ kill her, it was partially her fault he was in this situation to begin with. The idea of dying by his hands didn't seem so bad for some reason, anyway…

Instantly the man's body went still upon hearing her suggestion, his eyes widened as his face distorted in disgust. A reaction she would not have expected at all from someone like him. He seemed to take a moment to compose himself before responding to her.

"Don't ask me t' do creepy shit like that!" Zack glared at her through the corner of his eye, then resumed his nervous fidgeting as the classroom started to fill along with the teacher who closed the door behind her.

Rachel watched as he seemed to brush off her suggestion without so much as a thought, unsure why exactly he had seemed so disgusted by the idea of something he did normally. Regardless, she had no intention of giving up. The young woman's eyes remained glued on him, unwilling to allow her gaze to falter as she watched him return to his nervous twitches.

"If you keep doing things like that, you'll attract unwanted attention to yourself." She went for the direct approach this time, keeping her tone low. Afterall she couldn't tiptoe for him any longer, not with his own well being on the line. "I don't know why your going to these classes, but if it's something you have to do, or want to do...You shouldn't toss it all out the window by letting things get the better of you."

With that she finally allowed her eyes to focus on the teacher, not wanting her own distractions to cause any other unwanted attention. Though she didn't know if her words would do anything but at the very least…

"You don't seem like the type to be forced to do something you don't want to do not by anyone, or _anything._"

Zack continued on with his pitiful attempts to self soothe himself as he listened to her speak, unsure as to why she was even bothering to say any of that at all. It wasn't until her final words reached his ears that he bothered to even look at her. He had not expected to hear something like that coming from someone so quiet and passive like her. Yet she wasn't wrong, he definitely was _not _one to be forced, not the kind of person to do anything he didn't want to unless he had no choice.

The expression on his face shifted ever so slightly as he stared past those thick lashes, into her dull hues. Quietly admitting to himself that boring as she may be she wasn't bad on the eyes. Infact, as irritating as she could be this woman had a rather peculiar calming effect when he looked at her. He hadn't even noticed that his twitching and leg bouncing had ceased till the teacher's voice calling his name for role call snapped him back to reality.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips after offering a short wave of hand in response. It was then a constant battle of trying to pry his eyes away from the blonde sitting next to him. Though still annoyed from the events earlier, he had started to calm down significantly.

Rachel could feel his eyes on her, but she didn't make any notion that she could tell. She had noticed out of the corner of her eye that his movements had seemed to calm down, the slight shaking of her desk had stopped, and overall he seemed more relaxed. Not that she minded his staring, it was one of the few times she didn't seem to mind feeling someone's eyes on her, even if she didn't understand why. Perhaps it was because she knew his eyes weren't targeted on her as if she was some abomination, even if he thought she was dull, he was honest and straightforward. He didn't lie to her, or pretend she wasn't something other than she was, as fact…she quietly appreciated.

All she knew was that she was grateful to him and hoped somehow something she said or did had helped calm him, to redirect his focus. Afterall, regardless of what choice words Eddie had used for the man beside her, she knew what monsters were. As she noticed herself absentmindedly doodling a small scythe in the upper corner of her notebook she couldn't help wondering more about him, about his interest, his thoughts, _him…_

She didn't feel a need to act a certain way, or feel out of place by talking and acting as she wanted to. That fact...Had unconsciously brought a small smile to her face, her eyes glued to the pages as she let her pencil glide along her paper as she listened to the teacher begin to speak.

It was then that the man next to her seemed to nearly choked on his own spit, the moment she felt his gaze slid back over her. The fit of coughs had snapped her out of her own thoughts, causing her eyes to shift back to the man beside her, noticing him now huddled rather cutely in the sleeve of his sweatshirt in order to cover his mouth.

"Mr. Foster do you need to go get some water?" The teacher paused to quirk a brow at the odd man sitting in the back of the classroom.

Rachel blinked in his direction as he quickly shook his head in response to the professors question. It seemed he had gotten rather distracted by something since he was not able to even properly react to the teacher.

She reached into her bag then. Shifting through her various items until she located a small candy; something he could suck on to try and soothe his throat. The woman wondered if perhaps it was the weather causing him to cough like that. She held the small offering out to him and threw the man beside her an almost curious look. She knew she couldn't talk with him during class, she just hoped the action at least spoke enough for itself.

Once he had seemed to have gotten it mostly out of his system, she watched as he glanced from her face to the piece of candy in her palm. The man stared at her for a moment before finally taking it and popping it into his mouth.

The remainder of the class was fairly normal, minus the silent warmth that had been radiating from her chest after he had taken her offer. Ray had jotted down her notes and glanced beside her every so often when she would hear the teacher call on him; knowing full well he hadn't seemed to be paying much attention to anything they had been saying.

By his responses, he had made it fairly clear he didn't understand the material. While the rest of the class may have taken it as him just not caring, she couldn't help but wonder if there was a bit more to it. Afterall she was the only one who knew about his night habits, that it probably didn't allow him a lot of studying time depending on how early he went out and how late he would come back.

_He also didn't seem to pay much attention to his book for class, or take any notes…_

Rachel's thoughts had lingered on him at the end of class, her eyes straying between him and the book until the bell rang. When she noticed him begin to shift to a standing position, she redirected her focus up at the man, noticing that he had glanced her way as well. She didn't know why, or if his look had any meaning, but she took it as her signal to follow along and collected her things before standing up herself; then waiting for him to take the lead. It didn't matter to her if she would end up skipping her next class for the day.

"It seems like the teacher is getting used to you being in the class after the first week." She mentioned curiously, deciding to simply follow up on her previous thoughts. "Have you been able to read the class book at home?"

His gaze fixated on her for a moment before a scowl painted across his face and quickly averted his eyes, then began to make his way out the door; muttering the words _Fuck off _so low she just barely heard him. Regardless she had no intention of leaving his side just yet. Rachel simply ignored his remark and followed closely beside the taller man as he made his way out of the class.

Her mind remained preoccupied with his problem in class, studying the side profile of his face as she moved along with him. Ignoring the stream of expletives the man was muttering under his breath. As she gazed up at him the need for sleep became more obvious on his face. It was then she recalled their conversation last night and how late he had left her apartment… She had brought the excess food over to his place for that very reason.

_He was probably pretty exhausted by now…_

"Are you heading back home?" She asked softly, trying to find an excuse to talk with him again. Unsure why she was so eager to do so when it was obvious he didn't seem to want to be bothered much.

The man let out a heavy sigh then and began to head towards the side of the building with Ray close on his heels. It was there that he finally stopped to look at her, his expression appeared to be a mixture of exhaustion, irritation but also confusion.

"Th'fuck is with you?"

Rachel watched him curiously, totally unphased by his irritation. She listened to his question carefully, rolling her eyes up to give it a moment of thought, or at least that was how she made it appear.

"You like sweeter tastes, right?" She asked in a light tone, moving forward to bring herself a few steps ahead of him; with Zacks eyes watching every move. "I could make some coffee, and I have some leftover cookies from a previous batch. You could feel free to help yourself to some."

She turned to glance at him from over her shoulder and motioned for him to come along with her.

"Then if you wanted we can go over the lesson from today?"

Zack started to sputter, irritated at how she had just completely blown off his question. He was about to yell at her, to tell her she wasn't going to be able to get out of it that easily. That was before her words processed through his mind along with a loud growl that echoed from his belly as if his body was answering for him. It was there the killer's expression faltered. Some cookies were pretty hard to turn down at the moment.

"Gah fine!" He tossed his hands up in defeat.

Truthfully, though he was unlikely to admit it, the man really could use some help with this shit. Having just barely learned to read he still didn't understand a lot of what was explained. Not to mention he was fairly certain Gray had more than likely paid off someone in order for him to even pass and acquire his GED. If he failed, then that would also jeopardize his living situation, which was something _he did not _want to happen.

From there the pair remained silent the entire walk back to the apartment building. He wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say to her just then. Though he couldn't help but steal glances at the rather attractive woman beside him every now and then, finding it strange how calm she could make him.

As they came up on the outside of the apartment building, he watched her dig around her jacket pocket and withdraw a set of keys as she turned to move up the final flight of stairs to the third floor and made a straight line for her door. Those dull hues peered back at him a moment as she unlocked the door.

"Feel free to sit on the couch while I get the coffee started." Ray offered, leaving the door open for him while she moved inside and back into the kitchen.

The man grunted in response then made his way towards the living room, kicking his shoes off as he stretched his body across the couch. He was so tired he was barely able to even keep his eyes open. Surely it wouldn't hurt to close his eyes for a few minutes, not to sleep but to just rest…

Not even two minutes later, Isaac's breathing had fallen into a steady rhythm as he drifted, unable to remain awake now that he had laid down.

Meanwhile, Rachel had remained oblivious in the kitchen, setting the coffee as she collected the cookies she baked the other day and placed them nicely on a plate. Once she felt satisfied with the arrangement she moved around her counter and into the living room, noticing his rather relaxed posture over her couch.

"Zack?" She called out, placing the plate of cookies down on the table. It was in this position she noticed the man was fast asleep, causing a rather unusual look of surprise to cross her face.

She knew he was tired, but she didn't realize just _how _tired he had been. It made her feel a tad guilty inviting him over, even if she had valid intentions. The woman shifted her position now, settling on her knees beside the couch. Unable to resist allowing herself a moment to study the odd killer now snoring on her sofa.

It made sense the more she thought about it. She was used to forcing herself to stay up through the exhaustion from the hellish nights her mind gave her, but while Zack was also used to staying up late, he was probably also used to sleeping all day. A sympathetic smile crossed her face there, a feeling that was so foreign to her.

_...She had never...Worried about someone else like this before, it felt strange and yet the feeling was also sort of warm…_

As she continued to examine his sleeping face she noticed his expression twist into one of discomfort, her own expression dropping the more she began to notice the telltale signs of his mind slipping into some type of nightmare. All she could do was sit and watch as she saw him mumble to himself, seeming to be fighting whatever images haunted him.

Zack's body began to tremble and shake as he laid there unable to break himself free from whatever was now plaguing his mind. She felt an odd pain in her chest the more she watched, unsure of what to try to do to try and help. What could _she _of all people do, after all? Even so, seeing the man struggle like this made it hard to resist. A pale hand raised to gently brush his bangs away from his face, gently trying to offer even the slightest bit of aid for him.

Whether she comforted him or woke up him, she would accept the outcome. She just didn't… Want to see him fighting whatever demons were hunting him. As his breathing grew labored and sweat began to soak through the gauze that concealed the majority of his upper body, her hand continued to carefully comb through his hair in soft, assuring strokes.

She watched quietly from where she sat beside him as his expression seemed to slowly begin to relax, keeping her slow, gentle motions against his hair, feeling a few beads of sweat against her fingers as she allowed them to brush his forehead and feeling the damp cloth clinging to his skin.

Rachel knew he would be angry if he woke up, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. It was as if she was entranced by the faces he made, especially now as he began to relax from his nightmare. It was the first time she was able to truly examine him up close and while it was a fact she had already realized, she once again had to admit he was rather attractive. He was tall, incredibly strong and agile with rather defined features. If people weren't so judgemental she was positive that he would be melting hearts in that classroom.

_Maybe she would be grateful people never seemed to pay attention…_

Rachel blinked there, pausing her hands motion as she registered her own thoughts while her eyes remained glued to his face. Where...Did that come from? She then shook her head and resumed running her fingers through the soft black strands.

His consciousness had slowly started to wake after a few minutes or so. At the time he was only vaguely aware of something touching his head, not knowing what it was, just that it felt nice. He had never experienced such a pleasant sensation, not only that but it calmed him from the hell he had been enduring only moments ago.

A soft groan uttered from the now half asleep man's head seemed to unconsciously lean into her touch. What was causing this feeling? After a few more minutes of just relishing in whatever had him so relaxed, the man started to grow more aware.

Zack's wild eyes opened into thin slits, his vision still a bit blurry from sleep. Soon as he became much more aware of _what _that sensation was, the feeling of someone running their fingers through his hair. It felt so good that he was tempted to just allow it to continue, until his brain started to clear. His moment of peace was then cut short, as his gaze widened to see Ray's face so close to his and fully realizing it was her hand running through his hair.

The man's off colored stare went nearly round and his body shot upright and away from her in surprise. She had been watching him sleep? Touching him?

"What th'fuck! Whaddya think yer doin'?!"

While his eyes and voice were angry, the truth was he didn't _feel _angry. He was just in shock given he was not used to being touched in such a soothing manner. It had freaked him out. However, what was unclear was whether he was more perturbed by her gentle actions or his own internal reaction. The fact that… He didn't hate it… He enjoyed it even…

Just as Rachel expected, the calm peaceful silence was shattered by an understandably upset Zack. She allowed her hand a few more gentle motions, unable to pull it away in time when she noticed his eyes shoot open; causing her hand to freeze as he bolted upright into a seated position. The blonde's lips tightened as she heard him, knowing his reaction was _completely _warranted.

The hand that had been hanging in the air slowly moved down to her lap to join the other. Her eyes closed as she tried to piece together a response in her mind for him.

"Sorry…"She started softly, almost whispering it as her head bowed.

Blue eyes locked on the floor beneath her legs while she fidgeted her fingers. Truth be told she couldn't understand why she had done it, only the reason she had given herself to try and aid him. To think it would be okay to, that he would be okay with that was entirely off. She disliked seeing him so miserable, she just couldn't…

"You...Looked upset." She added, slowly raising her eyes back up to him. "You were having a nightmare, but you were so tired I felt bad waking you up, so I thought…"

_What? What had she thought? What was going on with her all of a sudden?_

"...I could let you sleep in peace…"

Isaac's mouth moved in reaction to her response though no words seemed to come out. The man seemed to be even more surprised than he had before. He also seemed to be rather confused.

After what felt like several minutes had passed his mouth finally closed, letting out a long sigh. His expression settled back into a more relaxed one, as he yanked his hood back over his head and tugged it over his eyes, holding it there for a moment.

"I-it's fine…" He muttered and his hand then fell back into his lap though still no more than a few tufts of hair could be seen beneath his hood.

Rachel had been watching quietly, waiting for him to yell, complain and get angrier. A part of her even wondered if he would storm out. So, when he had done none of those things she was filled with complete surprise. Her ocean blues continued to stare at him, softening as she noticed the man before her seeming to calm back down. That had been the last thing she expected from him. Her own body started to relax as well as he settled down on the couch, unsure why he _hadn't _taken off in a fit of screams and flails but if he really was okay with it…

"Would you still like some coffee?" She questioned softly, pushing herself up to her feet shortly afterward. "I left the cookies on the table, and I am sure the pot is done by now. You're welcome to help yourself…"

Zack then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes; blinking a few times before he finally answered.

"Alright…" He said calmly looking up at her. "How long was I asleep?"

Rachel took that as her cue to move into the kitchen, snagging a pair of simple white mugs from her cabinet.

"Not long" She started, pulling the pot off the burner to pour into each mug then collected the rest of what they needed for their coffee. She continued on as she worked on their cups, finishing them up before taking them both back to her living room. "You passed out for a few minutes, close to twenty or so before you woke up."

It was here she offered him an apologetic look, unable to help feeling a bit guilty for the less than pleasant experience, holding one of the mugs out for him.

"I tried to make it like the one we usually sell at the cafe, if you want more sugar in it though, or more flavoring I can…?" She offered gently. It was simple, but she hoped she could at least make it a bit up to him with a proper cup for his troubles.

Zack merely waved his hand in response to her question, then reached out to take the mug from her. Before she could even react in time to try to stop him, he went to take a large sip of the steaming beverage.

"FUCK!"

Rachel watched on helplessly as he dropped the coffee onto his thigh and just barely missing the white cushions of her couch. Surprised he had gone for such a large sip so quickly, she shook her head out of her momentary daze to place her own cup onto the coffee table. She then wasted no time to hastily grab a towel from the kitchen and return to him.

"Shit, well I ain't tired anymore…" He muttered, placing the mug carefully back onto the table next to hers. It was unclear as to whether he was trying to make some sort of lame joke or not.

"You shouldn't try to drink it so fast.." She commented, lowering herself back onto her knees without a second to spare.

Then carefully placed the towel on his thigh without much care or concern for how close it may have been to other parts, much more concerned about him causing an injury to his leg.

"Are you okay? Do you want some ointment?" She asked quickly, peering up to him as she tried to blot up the hot liquid. "...I should have warned you…"

At first his eyes widened before shifting to a glare, snagging the towel from her grasp and scooted himself away from her in order to resume drying himself.

"I'll be fine.." He finally muttered tossing the towel onto the coffee table and turning himself away from her as he reached for a cookie to stuff into his mouth.

His sudden actions had caught her a bit off guard, watching him as he dried himself off, turned away then stuffed a cookie into his mouth. Ray blinked, not sure how exactly to read his actions. She had only been concerned, but...He seemed fine?

_He was pretty strange._

The smaller woman shook her thoughts aside there then moved her hands to her own cup, blowing on it to cool it off.

"I was going to ask if you wanted help with some of the homework, but I'm afraid with your current luck you'd get a life threatening paper cut…"

That was the second time that day this woman had nearly caused him to choke himself, only this time it was the cookie that went down the wrong way. Once again an onslaught of coughs erupted from his lips. Her comment had taken him entirely off guard, not at all expecting someone so emotionless to make a joke. Fortunately his small chuckle had been mostly masked by the fit of coughs.

It was there he nearly reached for the coffee again to help wash down the remnants of cookie before remembering that idiotic move was what had landed him in this awkward situation in the first place. The man glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"S-shut up!" He barely managed to cough the words out, an almost invisible grin on his face as he realized he had just proved her point.

It was strange for her, she wasn't used to talking with other people so openly like this, let alone letting her own personal thoughts be announced for the world. Rachel had always just quietly sat and let things go by her, never inserting herself or responding with any empathy towards the people around her.

Yet here it felt different, her interaction with him didn't feel like it did with other people. She didn't know if it was his honesty that made her so comfortable, or the fact of how ridiculous it seemed to have a serial killer eating cookies in her living room but for once she understood the meaning of pleasant company. Before she had even realized it she had lowered her coffee back to the table as she raised a hand to gently press the side of a curled index finger to her lips to try to hide the small smile that curved up her lips, unable to suppress it as she watched the comical scene in front of her.

"I'll hold off for tonight, maybe we'll keep the conversation simple."She spoke as she shifted her finger up to rub the sleep from her eyes, focusing her attention back onto him with her own nearly amused expression. "Why are you in that class, Zack? You don't really seem like it's somewhere you voluntarily want to be?"

She decided to go straight for one of the questions that had been floating around in her head. She wanted to get a better understanding of him, of who he was, where he came from...Things she had never really cared about, not with herself, let alone anyone else.

His eyes seemed to widen as if distracted by something before deciding to answer her question.

"It… It's kind of a long story, but.."The man sighed in annoyance and scratched at the back of his head. "...Short version is th' man that lets me live here… Wanted me t' go. Said it was either that or I'd be back out on th' streets again."

As she listened to his explanation it became a bit more understandable as to why he was in the class, and why he seemed persistent to try and get there that one day she had first found out he attended the same school as her. Rachel moved a hand back to her mug there and held the steam up to her face a moment as she thought over her response.

"I see… So, then what happens if you do pass the class?" She asked curiously, sipping on the black cup of coffee she had made for herself, rather enjoying the bitter taste. "Is this the only class they want for you or do they intend for you to get a degree in something?"

The killer reached for his own mug to take a small sip, his eyes lighting up a bit as he did so.

"It's good...couldn' tell with how hot it was earlier…" He commented before responding to her next set of questions, seeming to be much more at ease around her than before. "If I pass..I get t' stay here...if I don't then he's kickin' me out. Said I have t' at least get a general associa-somethin'...whatever th'hell that means…"

The blonde offered a small nod in gratitude for his compliment, listening intently to his answer once again. He needed to get an associates? Though she couldn't yet tell how difficult that may be for him, it was evident by how he acted in class that if he wasn't mindful he wouldn't be able to get a passing grade. Initially she had only intended to help him with the homework from that day, but hearing his situation...Maybe she could try to do a little more…

"So whadda bout you?" He asked.

It was here her thoughts took over her mind, becoming lost in a sea of her own planning and ideas. It was short lived however as she heard _his _question, causing her to shift her gaze back up to him.

"Me?"

She was a bit surprised he had asked about her. At first she felt a bit uneasy, having never intended to talk about herself with anyone, or at least not without dodging any important details. She supposed… Zack was a bit of an exception to her worries, so giving him a little couldn't hurt….

"To be honest...I don't really have a reason to be going to this school, or any other."

She let a finger trace along the rim of her coffee cup and shifted her dull hues down into the black substance.

"I wanted a change, so I packed my things and went to the first place I could attend school, work and live. I ended up here shortly after I got the job at the cafe and was accepted into the school." She kept her story simple, sipping at the coffee once more. "...There isn't really anything I want from it."

"Why would ya do it for no reason?" He asked, giving her a rather odd look. "If there's nothin' ya want from it...what's th' point?"

His words left her rather perplexed as she turned her eyes and attention fully onto him after his question, as if just realizing that fact for the first time. She knew it was senseless. No matter how easy classes or school had been for her, she knew what he was saying was true. What good would a degree do her? What good would this or any other job do her? What good was this rotten day to day existence…

Rachel stared at him for a good minute before finally closing her eyes, letting herself lean back to stare up at her ceiling, her expression matched her rather monotone voice.

"I...Don't know what else to do."

_Not exist._

"I hoped if I could keep continuing to try and do the things I was supposed to do, that somehow I could fall into a routine until I could understand exactly what I _should _be doing, but I don't think there is anything out there for me."

She wasn't blind, she knew even before he made his remarks about her face that her expressions were terrible, that she never quite fit in with everyone else around her. She didn't consider herself to have any special skills or talents, she was just…

_Useless._

...Just there…

She quickly moved her attention back to him, pushing aside her own memories as he continued to listen to her. " You have a lot riding on this class though. Tomorrow if you wanted, I could go over things your having trouble with as a way to make amends for my noise when I moved in?"

Zack's gaze never broke from her as she spoke, seeming to examine every subtle change within her expression. Something which had seemed to become a habit for him around her, at first because he wanted to know if she might make an interesting face that might trigger him. Though it hadn't been a particularly long period of time since they started talking more, this was no longer the case. Now he was just simply fascinated by the small shifts in her face.

"We can…" He responded, sighing a little before he downed the rest of his coffee, then continued. "Maybe instead of tryin' t' figure out what ya _think _ya should be doin'...Ya should just try doin' what you _want _t' be doin'..."

Something about her response had weirded him out, as if there were things she wasn't saying. However, he wasn't about to pry into more personal matters that she might not want to share anymore than he would want to share the shitty pieces from his own past.

It just bothered him, how she just seemed so passive. How she wasn't willing to take matters and life into her own hands. To grab life by the balls and simply take control. How she was more than willing to just allow herself to be pushed around. It irritated the fuck ouf of him. The man continued to observe her face which was now somewhere between surprised and something else he couldn't quite figure out, silence filled the room a good minute before she finally responded.

"...What I want…" She repeated softly, almost inaudibly before casting her gaze down. "I could go over to your place and help you study. I usually close the cafe, so I could even set aside time there if you needed it. Though tomorrow I am free after class."

Zack placed his now empty mug onto the coffee table, then reached his arms over his head to stretch for a moment and relieve some of the stress of the day. Even with the effects of the caffeine helping to keep him a bit more alert, he was still rather tired and could use a good nap.

"Don't matter t' me." He yawned. "I need t' sleep...:"

He then tossed her another odd look, as he got up to his feet and recalled what had occurred several minutes ago. How she had just reached out despite hardly knowing him in an attempt to soothe him.

_It felt so nice…._

Rachel followed him back up to his feet then peered over to a clock that hung on the wall in her living room. The young woman then nodded in agreement with his suggestion for sleep before moving towards the front door. Zack shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched her go for her book bag and pull out a small blue notebook which she held out to him.

"If you want to read this over in your free time, it's some aspects from previous lessons I wrote down while I was getting settled in the apartment. It was difficult to concentrate, so I put aside a few nights to throw it together." She stated then turned her body more towards him, keeping the little notebook outstretched to him. "You don't have to take it, but it might help if you wanted me to come over to go over things with you?"

Zack gave the notebook a sideways glance, before moving to close the short distance between them. A slight amount of irritation arose at the thought of having to do something he viewed as utterly pointless. However…

"Fine…"

He grumbled in annoyance as he decided to at the very least take what she was offering. Hopefully he would be able to understand at least a portion of what she had written. Afterall, reading was still a bit of a struggle for him, which was why Gray had elected English as his first class. The man then let out an exasperated sigh, before heading out the door, giving Rachel one final glance before exiting to his own apartment.

The hours seemed to drag by that morning, for the first time she had a bit of difficulty trying to pay attention in class. As Zack had seemed to preoccupy her thoughts all last night and this morning. Just the realization that she would be able to spend more time with him later that afternoon had her heart doing flips in her chest. It was so strange for her to feel like this, she had never found herself to get excited about much of anything, much less going to see someone. It seemed during this short period of time they had begun to get to know each other, he had been able to unlock several emotions and thoughts she had never felt or thought of before.

Soon as the bell rang to signify the end of class, Rachel had collected her bag and immediately made her way towards the campus exit. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn't paid much attention as she quickly rounded a corner and slammed into someone moving the opposite direction. Ray stumbled backwards, taking a moment to reground herself and rubbed at a point on her shoulder where they had collided. As she refocused on the person in front of her she immediately recognized the person she had so carelessly bumped into as her psychology teacher on Fridays.

"Sorry…" The young woman muttered, peering up into his strange eyes. While one was a shade of brown the other was slightly different, she would never ask but she was certain it was fake.

"No trouble at all dear." He smiled reassuringly as a hand reached up to readjust his glasses which had slid down the bridge of his nose. "It's always nice to meet the students here. I'm Dr. Dickens the psychology teacher at this school."

"I know, I'm in your class on Fridays." She stated simply, not seeming bothered at all that he hadn't recognized her.

"Oh! That's right...Rachel isn't it? I'm sorry I almost forgot." Dr. Dickens continued to smile down out her, staring directly into her blue eyes before running a hand through his sandy brown hair. Had she been more observant she might have noticed the slight twinkle in his eye has he just seemed to stare at her for a moment. "I suppose I'll see you and those beautiful peepers of yours tomorrow then."

Ray simply nodded, taking that as her que to move around him uttering a soft _see you tomorrow _before picking up the pace once more. The interaction felt somewhat strange but she didn't give it much thought seeing as her mind was already busy focusing on other things.

Finally she found herself at her destination, a pale hand raised to gently knock on the apartment door directly beside her own. After several moments of no answer, her heart dropped a bit wondering if perhaps she had missed him. Though he was almost always home around this time of day, she was sure of that.

"Whaddya want old man?!"

Just as she had been about to move towards her own door, the sound of footsteps and his voice could be heard just on the other side. She had no time to formulate a response as a few moments later then door swung inwards to reveal much more of her neighbor than she had seen before. The man stood there in little more than a pair of jeans, and it was here she found out just how much of his body was actually covered in those bandages as she took note of how aside from the bits of exposed skin around his eyes, mouth and the tips of his fingers the material covered nearly everything stopping just above his hip bones.

Surprise was evident across her features as she stared at him for a moment, trying to resist the urge to let her eyes stray too much. It looked like whatever had happened to cause him to cover his skin up like that must have been really painful. It was hard for her to imagine how much pain it must have caused him. The thought of which brought a sting to her chest she wasn't familiar with, but she didn't like it. She didn't know how something like this had happened to him, or why, only that it hurt to see it when Zack himself seemed to act so normal. Then again, she knew he seemed strong. Not just physically but some of his reasonings or talks with her had been interesting.

"Ray?"

Ray forced her dull hues to focus on those wild eyes she had started to become so drawn to. It was there she noted that she wasn't the only one who seemed surprised. Aside from her prior thoughts she had also found it hard to not notice how sculpted he appeared beneath all that gauze. It was a bit difficult to tell underneath the clothes just how well muscled his body really was. The woman averted her eyes, feeling the color bloom across her face.

"Sorry...did you still want to go over the lessons from yesterday?" She asked, carefully shifting her gaze back towards him as she noticed him still staring at her.

"Guess I forgot…" He muttered, turning his head to glance down at her from the corner of his amber eye and raising a hand to scratch at his cheek in embarrassment.

She then watched as he moved back into the apartment, leaving the door open so that she could enter. A mix of relief and disappointment filled her while he moved to snag a black hoodie from the couch then pulled it over his head. A hand reached up to adjust the strap over her shoulder, her eyes then examined the condition of his apartment now that he was less of a distraction for her. Judging from the clothes just laying around in random places throughout the living area, the empty soda bottles, cereal bowls and chip bags he didn't really take care of himself. It was hard to not wonder how he was so fit when it appeared all he seemed to eat was junk food.

Zack cleared various items off the couch, tossing them carelessly onto the floor as she made her way towards him and waited patiently before sliding her bag off her shoulder onto the floor by her feet as she sat down. She glanced in his direction as he took his seat right next to her, then unzipped her bag to pull out the notebook she kept for the English class. After flipping through the pages of the previous assignments Ray placed the book down onto the coffee table directly in front of her.

Rachel carefully tore out a piece of paper for him to use as she went over the information she had managed to put together the previous night. First she needed to find out just how difficult all of this was for him. She really didn't have any idea about his educational background or what he did or didn't know. However, it hadn't been hard to put together from the few times she had been in class with him that he didn't understand a vast majority of the material. Watching him struggle to just read a small passage from the textbook, how he didn't know how to pronounce larger words that he should know by this point in his life…

_This must be really hard for him…_

"Zack, did you go over any of the notes I gave to you from the previous lessons?" She asked as she peered over at the man who seemed to be staring at the open notebook on the table with a blank look on his face.

It was obvious just from his expression that he probably had not, and that he didn't understand the homework they had been assigned to do at all. They had been covering the basics of writing a well composed essay and how to form a proper introduction, body and conclusion.

"I forgot…"

The man once again raised a hand to scratch at his cheek and glanced off to the side. Truthfully she would have been surprised if he actually looked it over. A small smile spread across her face as she was unable to help but find his little mannerisms whenever he felt awkward to be rather cute. A delicate hand reached out to cover his much larger one he had rested on his knee, causing the man to immediately turn his attention back towards her. Zack blinked as his wild gaze fixated from her hand on his to her mouth. It was rather surprising when he didn't pull away, rather he seemed to allow himself to just relax from her touch.

"It's alright, we can go over it today and I can help you with the homework assignment. It shouldn't take long the paper only needed to be a single page minimum."

Ray gave his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, then moved to grasp her notebook and began to go over the lesson. As they went over everything it wasn't hard to put together from his general lack of knowledge on basic concepts and reading that he had probably not received much education early on in his life at all. It was as if he was just now learning these things that he should have been taught in his childhood years. This was something she found to be rather strange, yet she wasn't sure if it would be okay to ask him about it. Afterall, she didn't want him to feel anymore awkward about it then he already seemed to. Regardless, when he actually tried to apply himself he was a fairly quick learner.

After a couple of hours they had finished up the current assignment and had been chatting a bit on the couch. Just simple things that didn't particularly matter, things like his favorite color was red or he preferred the colder weather. Things she wouldn't have taken an interest in with anyone else. She even shared a little bit of herself that she normally wouldn't have, careful not to share too much. It wasn't until a loud rumble from the stomach of the killer sitting next to her that they came out of the little bubble they had been in moments ago.

"I can make something if you want to wait a minute?" She asked a mildly amused look on her face as she watched the man's face shift a little as if he had only just now realized how hungry he was.

"There's some shit ya can just toss in th' microwave in the freezer if ya want t' use that." Zack called to her as she stood up and made her way around the corner into the kitchen.

Rachel's lips drew into a thin line, the very first thing she noticed about his kitchen was the absence of a stove. She was fairly sure it was standard for all apartments to have one so it made little sense as to why his would be any different?

"I would rather just cook something but you… Don't have a stove…?" The woman's head poked around the corner to throw the killer on the couch a rather baffled look.

"Yeah, I uh.. Had it taken out."

He returned her expression with an awkward smile of his own, though she didn't question him further. Despite the fact that she was curious as to what the reason might have been, she figured it probably wasn't her business or place to know such things. With a light sigh she turned to focus her attention on the fridge. There wasn't much food in there either, mostly sodas and junk food and the freezer was even worse with nothing but items you would pop into a toaster or microwave.

"How about we go over to my place and I can make something for us?"

Her head tilted back to glance at him, catching his eyes shifting from what she assumed was the floor by her feet to her eyes. Had she been someone else she may have had a different assumption or she might have noticed the rather peculiar look in those mismatched eyes she found herself so drawn to.

"Yeah...Alright.." Zack offered a short nod of consent before standing up himself.

It was Saturday night just like many other nights, he would wake up from his late afternoon nap usually just as the sun was about to go down. From there he would pull on one of his hoodies and black combat boots; snag the hunting knife he had acquired years ago and head out the door. At least that used to be a fairly common routine for him before school, and before he met _her. _The past few weeks had just been so strange for him.

Sometimes he would stop by the Corner Cafe for a coffee just before one of his outings, though this time as he found himself outside of the polished glass door he found he was hoping for more than just a coffee. Since Thursday he had yet to interact with Rachel at all. Though he did see her once walking home from work, whilst he was sitting against the brick wall of the alley covered in the blood of his most recent victim. It had been tempting to approach her but he had thought better of it, despite the fact that she hadn't seemed at all perturbed the last time she saw him like this. For reasons he didn't really understand, he didn't particularly _want _her to see him like that if it could be avoided.

The familiar sound of a bell chimed as he entered into the cafe. As usual it was nearly empty save for one or two other customers and the employees. Zack tucked his hands into his pocket, then worked his way over towards his usual corner table. His observant eyes scanned the area for any sign of Ray. He was fairly certain that she worked on Saturdays, given the previous times he had seen her before they ever even spoke.

Something he had taken notice of even then was that the girl simply allowed herself to be pushed around, though it wasn't something he really bothered to care about at the time. However, it appeared to be the same situation tonight as the sound of a dispute could be heard on the other side of the kitchen door of the cafe. Shortly after a disgruntled Ray appeared pushing the door open. Though her expression was neutral as ever, Zack could detect the subtle signs of annoyance behind those blue orbs.

Another taller brunette girl looking to be around Rachel's age soon followed after and shoved the smaller woman out of the way causing her to drop the plate she had been about to carry out to a customer all over the floor with a shatter.

"God you're so clumsy! Can't you do anything right? You can explain to those poor customers _why _their order is going to take longer than usual." Veronica scowled at her, then snagged a wet rag from a sanitizer bucket beneath the counter and slung it at her without even bothering to ring it out first.

Rachel didn't say a word in response, just simply took the rag and knelt down to clean up the mess. Her expression did nothing to let on that she was annoyed or it bothered her that the front of her uniform was now completely soaked. Afterall, what was there for her to do anyway? There was never any point in trying to stand up for herself, she knew they weren't wrong.

_She couldn't do anything right. She was useless…_

The other girl rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance, then moved to go back into the kitchen. Rachel didn't even bother to look up when Veronica turned to _accidentally _dump what was left of a customers coffee mug onto the floor in front of her.

"By the way _you _can deal with the creep over in the corner too. If your lucky maybe he'll end your miserable existence on your way home tonight." She said coldly before closing the kitchen door behind her.

The sound of hysterical giggling on the other side indicated that the other girls had probably been paying attention to everything. She didn't really understand what she did to cause them to hate her so much. It didn't really matter though, afterall it wasn't as if she wanted to be here either. The only reason she took this job was because it was the only one she could get on such short notice after _that _had happened and she had decided to pack up everything and move.

Rachel sighed, finished picking up the remnants of the shattered plate and bits of food then dumped them into a nearby trash can. After she had finished cleaning up the mess she got up to her feet to take care of the customer her coworker had mentioned. A faint smile formed at the corners of her lips when she realized exactly who the customer was, and how amusing that comment really was when _that _customer was in fact a serial killer.

Zack had been silently watching the entire scene from his seat. An odd mixture of anger and annoyance welled up inside of him. Angry at that brown haired bitch for treating Ray like that, but also annoyed at Rachel for just taking it. Could she really not stand up for herself at all? It irritated him even more than the other day at school with that red headed punk. Why did it bother him so much? Was it because it reminded him of himself many years ago? He wasn't even able to feel happy once he saw the little blonde making her way towards his table. The only thing to soften him up even a little was the fact that those dull hues had seemed to brighten up a bit as she looked at him.

"Welcome, have you decided what you would like to order?"

Rachel greeted him with the same words he heard nearly every time he came here. Just another thing to add to his list of annoyances for the evening.

"D'ya really have t' talk like some kind of robot?" He questioned, his wild eyes glancing at her from under his hood. "It's agitating."

"Sorry, did you want to get anything?" Rachel averted her gaze for a brief moment then and her expression fell back to its usual empty stare. "I meant to come by yesterday but I got called into work earlier and you… Weren't home by the time I got back…"

"Rachel! The bathrooms need cleaning! Get to it!" A dirty blonde with short hair called out from the back.

He could see the subtle shift in her expression, that slight amount of annoyance that was almost impossible to detect. The woman in front of him let out a soft sigh, then turned her attention back to him. It was clear she didn't want to do it and that she was simply getting pushed around, allowing herself to be pushed around.

"Why don't ya just tell em' t' fuck off?"

Ray blinked at him as if the thought never even crossed her mind before. As if the idea of doing something like that was just entirely outlandish for her.

"I can't…" She said softly, closing her eyes there a moment then set her focus on a spot on the table.

"Why not?"

"...Did you want anything?"

A heavy sigh expelled from the man's lips, his eyes narrowed to make it clear he wasn't pleased with her evasion.

"Whatever...Just do it like ya did th' other day at yer place then…" He muttered, averting his gaze as she lifted her head to offer a short nod before heading towards the back of the cafe.

After that he elected to stay there until the shop closed down and wait for her. Soon as she brought him his coffee she was pulled every which way, unable to give him more than a few minutes of her attention.

He continued to observe how she acted around both her coworkers and even the customers. Just like that day in class, she didn't verbalize when something bothered her. He could see the annoyance on her face as she allowed herself to be pushed around. She just _took it_. Allowed herself to be used to do whatever tasks those bitchy girls in the back didn't want to do. Allowed them to just use her like a _tool. _ Even when customers would complain over stupid shit she just took it. As his ears caught a couple making fun of her, wondering if she is deaf and dumb. It doesn't make sense to him how she just took it.

Zack only exited once the cafe was about to close down, then waited for around two hours just outside for Rachel to head out. She would be the last one to leave, just as he had suspected after seeing her coworkers leaving about an hour earlier. It had been tempting to follow them home and take care of both her problem, and his need to alleviate his irritation. Was he really willing to kill someone for her? Even he had to pause to consider his thoughts, then finally the door swung open and he could see her long blonde strands swaying in the cold breeze as she turned to lock up the cafe.

Rachel turned as she heard a set of footsteps headed in her direction, a look of surprise spread over her face when she saw him there. It confused her as to why he had stayed there while she was working, though she hadn't asked him at the time what he was doing. Not that she would have had the chance to do so with her coworkers constantly pulling their usual games. As always they made sure to ensure that her closing shift would be as difficult as possible.

"Zack?" She looked up at the killer now standing a few feet away from her with his hands shoved into his pockets. It was here that she finally decided to question his motives for sticking around, moving around him to begin the walk home "Weren't you bored hanging around here?"

"Shut up." The man simply rolled his eyes then followed along side her. "Why d'ya let em' talk like that? It ain't like everything ya do is bad… Most of it isn't from what I saw."

Rachel's blue eyes glanced up at him curiously, wondering how much he had actually been paying attention to. Though she knew he was right that in the end she did what she was supposed to do and got the job done. If those girls didn't intentionally try to mess with her then she might have actually gotten out on time, perhaps even early. However, she just didn't seem to find herself worth sticking up, the idea seeming pointless.

"It isn't that big of a deal. I don't really mind."

Her tone was timid, knowing he would be unsatisfied with her response. She could sense him glaring at her as she shifted her gaze back to the path ahead of her. What she didn't know was why he even cared, or why he bothered to stay and walk her home. The minutes that followed were full of a silent tension as they started to cut through the back alleys. Strange how much safer she felt walking with him even though he had tried to kill her in this same place a few weeks ago…

Zack's irritation was peaking with every step they took forward, unable to understand how she could be like that. How she could just be so damn passive, it was so aggravating. He hated watching her get pushed around like that, he hated how she allowed it, and he hated how much it reminded him of his former self. Finally, as they came towards the exit of the alley way he moved his attention to her once again.

"Don't ya ever cry or get angry?"

Rachel didn't even bother to look in his direction, though he could see from the dull expression that she wore that not even she had an answer. This was confirmed after a minute or two of silence as the young woman simply shrugged. Zack gave her a sideways stare as if considering her then cut directly in front of her, leaning himself forward so that they were inches apart.

"Can ya smile at th' very least?" He asked, those golden eyes set on hers. "A _real_ smile, not those half-assed ones."

"I'm..not very good at that…"

"Well, can ya at least try?"

Rachel sighed, closing her eyes as she bowed her head slightly, as if to collect herself before raising it up to him, flashing one of her larger, truly attempted smiles. It seemed no sooner she had that the wind had swept by to toy with the long golden locks, pushing them gently along her cheeks in a small sway. The moonlight offered a soft, ghostly light to the girls pale features.

For a moment there all he could seem to do was stare, though he gave no visible reaction to what he might be thinking. No evidence of just how much her little smiles really affected him, as he turned then began to walk away leaving a confused Rachel behind him.

"Was… That not good?" She asked. He knew from the light pair of footsteps she was following along behind him.

"Yer eyes are still dead…"

_It wasn't a perfect smile. Her eyes were still dull, her expression was still lame… But..._

Golden spheres glanced up at the moon as he recalled her expression in his head from just a minute ago, having to admit to himself…

_It wasn't... Such a bad smile…_


End file.
